Grounded
by Nigel Yearning
Summary: A legendary pikachu from a former Pokemon Master is caught in the middle between his fans, the World Government, and the ghosts of old friends. He was just about to give up on life when he got dragged into an even bigger mess. Will he pull himself together and lead a normal life or will it all fall apart? Pikachu POV.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

Life sucks.

I'm not going to lie, I hadn't been faring well lately. Underneath that thin veil of society the world is harsh, ugly, and unhealthy. The veil, a finely crafted blanket of infrastructure, politics, and peace, all threaded together by good people with the intention on making the world a better place. Those who were on the blanket were happy, loving, caring. Humankind and pokémon alike enjoyed this lush blanket, taken it for granted. The forces of good work tirelessly to keep that blanket well insulated and clean. Occasionally holes will appear through that blanket, which is why society have emergency services and institutions to patch them up. They patch up most of the holes, but not all.

These holes are mostly small, usually just the size of a pebble in the blanket of society. The good guys can't keep these holes closed because they are so small, that if one were to open up in their backyard they cannot see it. What comes out of these holes comes from underneath the blanket. Evil. No, not greed or corruption, these ideas do not relate to evil. They sit between the holes, sometimes over or under. They don't have a place on the blanket, they're merely pillows.

Evil itself is spread deep underneath the blanket of society. It was where the bad people live. The holes that form in the blanket tend to suck people in, turning them into something different. The freedom of evil persists because of greed and corruption gone mad. It was all about the self, fuck everyone else. Evil is so nasty that it can consume itself. Just how do I know this? I fell down one hole and fallen deep.

My name is Tesla Westinghouse, and I have a confession to make.

Anyone who hears a story, they imagine the narrator being the garniture of a human. One who either knows all or knows what is limited to the main guy in the story. Just for the record, I'm not human. I never was. I am an old pikachu with too much time on his hands, and all that time is so volatile it will _burn_ your hands clean off your wrists. But please, hear me out. I won't bite, and I am not necessarily a bad pokémon. Hear the story through my words, my voice. I have a lot to get off my chest, I do not want to take this burden to the grave. I may ramble on without end and you may not understand some parts of what had happened. Just listen to what I have to say and take it into thought.

 **. . .**

I was in the port city of Soho sometime in the late morning. The Unovan town seemed dead. Destruction and garbage littered the streets. Windows were busted, boarded with plywood. Cars were smashed, lamp pillars toppled. The power had been switched off, the city's sub-station ultimately destroyed. The water lines were cut. The sewers were flooded. The blanket of society had been removed from this town many years ago when Nobark Westinghouse, the scrafty with dissociative personality disorder, decided to attack the town with a pokémon army because he wanted to bring equal rights to pokémon. "Liberation" as he put it. His revolution had failed because it didn't make any sense. His army, the Pokémon Resistance Army, or PRA for short, was made to stop oppressive humans from asserting their will on helpless pokémon. That was not the case. If you wanna bring equal rights to pokémon, why would you use violence and oppression against violence and oppression?

He rounded up all sorts of pokémon whom felt the dark side of humanity and turned them against good people. It resulted in good people doing bad things, which attracted bad people who surrounded themselves in righteousness. A wall was built up, law enforcement membership swelled. It was reasonable at first, until the wrong pokémon were being punished. Not only pokémon were forbidden to be outside their poké balls, they were forbidden to be on their own. The corrupt powers that used to be in play executed any stray pokémon caught within the city limits. Incoming pokémon trainers were screened, even kicked out in some cases. In one unfortunate case, a dumb associate of mine named Mark Kissinger jumped off a fuckingcliffbecause he tried to smuggle concealed weapons into the city. More on him later.

I wondered after all these years what had happened to Nobark after our trainer had passed. Had I known he was trying to recreate the conditions we used to live in, I would've intervened. I only found out later after his "soldiers" picked off my great-great granddaughter's trainer and forced her into hiding. Yes, I am that old and pikachus breed fast. Despite my age, I used whatever strength I had left to hunt down the perpetrators and stumbled into this mess of racism and discrimination. Nobark was to blame, and it was indirectly my fault. He was sick in our day and I defended him from being put down, now many lives are lost. The monster within my friend had consumed him, flooding his aging brain with thoughts. He begged me for mercy, and that's what I gave him.

Now I found myself walking among the ruins of this mess. My friends who were also caught in the conspiracy had gone home. Ash and Rex went back to Kanto, Mark went back to Faraday Island. I used to have a home, it was in both of those places. I had nothing left in them now, or so I thought at the time.

I dragged my sorry tail down the sidewalk, taking great care not to step on the glass. I was covered in wounds, both old and fresh. Much of my skeleton was broken during my pokémon battling career, I had a not so noticeable scar on my side from a liver replacement surgery. The rest were bullet wounds, a mixture of 5.56mm, 9mm, and .22-caliber rounds. All were fired from people and pokémon I cared for. The 9mm and .22 were healed some time ago, but the assault rifle rounds were fresh. Nobark shot me during the assault of the second raid of Soho when his madness finally consumed him. I got to his rational side too late, I forgave him, but the wounds he gave me still hurt. Nonetheless, I was used to the pain. My body had suffered enough to tune it out.

I wasn't sure where I was going, I just kept walking. I didn't have a destination in mind. I just walked in circles around town. Soho was still dangerous, even after the PRA had finally crushed the city's selectmen and most of its emergency services. I didn't care, I had enough. I held out against the worst of humanity and found myself against the worst of pokémon. I stopped the oppression and got nothing in return. No rewards, no badges, nothing. Just bullet wounds that would have bled out without the help of human hands. A price to pay for being a good pokémon. It was sad, but hey, that's my life, or _was_ my life.

I had done a lot of things I wasn't proud of because I never wanted this life. Neither I asked nor did I begged for help. I was happy in my old Kanto home. I had a family. Parents, siblings, cousins, other extended relatives. I had lots of family. They were happy. I was happy. Everything was fine until the poachers came in and separated us. The next thing I know I was forced into a life under the caretaker of a "Pokémon Master" in a new land under a new identity. I was angry, grumpy, I couldn't bring myself to like, even love my trainer. Irvin Westinghouse was corrupt, but he loved and cared for me, and I realized this too late when he passed away from a heart attack. After he died, I regretted all the bad things I had ever done to him and to my friends under his care. Now they were all gone, my apologies answered with silence.

My legs were hurting, especially my knees. I found a good spot by a brick wall that wasn't covered with glass and sat down, my joints cracking as I relaxed. I wasn't sure how this old frame held out for a hundred and seven years. It was unheard of, impossible. Few pikachus can barely make it to their 50th birthday and they would have the body of an 85 year old man. I couldn't remember how long I held the record for being the oldest pikachu in the world. It was disputed at first, until they searched my serial number on the internet.

My number, KVF115, shown the date of which I was captured. A pitiful memory. In those days pikachus were tagged by tattooing their feet. Now the numbers are longer, scientists were adding in the pokédex numbers with the serial numbers and adding in new serial letters; instead of tattoos, they now use small bio-chips which they inject underneath the pokémon skin. Things were more sophisticated now, but I still hold my old number. Maybe that is what I am, a number. Not a name, but a number. I lift up my foot and peaked underneath. There it was, faded with age from walking, but still there. I frowned, I got it the day when I was taken captive from Team Rocket poachers. The last day I ever saw my old family.

I sit back and tried to relax. My knees and feet hurt, tired of holding my chunky frame. No wonder mice pokémon are a quadruped species. I flexed my muscles and loosen up some joints. I winced as my wounds pinged. I lowered my arms and held still until the stitches went back to sleep. Ugh, pure misery.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there, but it was well past afternoon when the squad car showed up. Despite the destruction from Nobark's little war, this cruiser was spared. It was pristine, though a little dusty. Probably it was stashed away in a garage somewhere for some time before it was called into duty. The two officers sat inside, one behind the wheel while the other was riding shotgun. They both looked tired, I could see the dark bags under their eyes. When they made eye contact with me, they flipped on their flashers but not their siren. The cruiser pulled to a stop beside the road. They didn't rush or screamed, they just calmly climbed out of their cruiser like I wasn't a threat. Totally unprofessional, but I can understand. I had the power to turn people into dust, I could have vaporized them the moment when their feet touched the asphalt. Their authority could not protect themselves from me, not even their guns. Even though the situation was on my terms, I didn't do anything. I just sat there, kept my cool.

When they approached, I sighed and merely said in human speech, "Oh, I was waiting for somebody else."

The driver's nametag read Hoover, his partner's tag said Quincy. They kept their distance. I sensed they weren't a threat. The Hoover guy spoke first. "Who were you expecting?"

I said, "Well we all gotta go sometime, I just wish it was a little more heroic."

I was referring to my actions back at the pokémon center. How I faced off against Nobark in this weird pistol duel. A piss-poor duel, nothing spectacular besides the arterial spray and his twitching corpse. They seem to know what I was talking about, so I cut to the chase and asked, "Is there a problem officers?"

"There's a warrant out for your arrest," said Officer Hoover.

"Oh, I have rights all of a sudden?"

"Well technically it's a bounty, but they're treating it like an arrest warrant."

I raised an eyebrow. "Who're they?"

Officer Quincy said, "The Unova Regional Police, they issued the warrant."

The URP? Well now I'm fucked double-time. The URP's reach extends all over Unova, including their little province of Faraday Island. I wasn't sure what they were charging me with. If I'm being granted rights, then I better act like I have them. "I have the right to remain silent, and I am not saying a word until we're at the station and I have a lawyer."

Hoover and Quincy glanced at each other, then at me. I saw some sympathy in their eyes. Whatever the charges were, they were overlooking them. If they were fans of my pokémon battling days, then they were saying zip about it. Maybe they realized how I somehow gotten myself into this situation, or maybe they had learned of the conversation I had with Nobark. No matter, it changes nothing. I was under arrest and I had no place to run.

 **. . .**

They dropped me into the backseat of the squad car and drove me toward downtown. The heart of the city had suffered the worst of the firing. Burned shells of buildings were still smoldering, skeletons of cars burned and torn apart by explosions. I had seen war occur in my lifetime but never had I seen a war torn city in person. There were police officers stationed nearby. URP SWAT teams stood by the corners of the streets. Barely a few police officers on the streets were Soho PD. I later learned that much of the remaining police officers were on unpaid leave, being tried in court for corruption charges. The few that remained were the honest ones. Good people. I wasn't abused nor was treated like prey the entire time I was being handled by law enforcement. Which makes me wonder what they wanna do with me. I had no home, much of my personal contacts were long gone. I was on my own, for now.

Hoover and Quincy didn't take me to their bunker of a police station. It got burned out, rendered unusable by the PRA. So they took me to a makeshift refugee camp that was set up by the Soho rail yard. FEMA and Unova Red Cross tents were set up across the rail yard. Soho citizens who survived the carnage gathered around food lines. They looked like ordinary people, not too different from the people I saw in Kanto and the rest of Unova. Officer Hoover drove down the road running parallel down the tracks, then drove off the road and pulled up to the corner of the camp. This section of the refugee camp had temporary Kevlar walls set up. Soldier-like guards wearing full body armor were stationed all over the place. No face plates or exposed skin. Everything was covered to the point where they looked more like robots than human beings. They had no insignias on their armor, besides the word _Police_ spelled out on their backs in white capitalized letters. They weren't URP nor Soho PD. That was clear. It took me a while to realize who they were.

The International Police, the law enforcement arm of the World Government.

"Interpol," I muttered under my breath.

If I was wanted by Interpol, then there _is_ no corner in the world where I could hide. Their reach extends everywhere. No local law enforcement jurisdiction will stand in their way once they set their sights on a prize. The entire planet was their jurisdiction, no way any region will bar them from their territories. Officer Hoover slowed down and drove up to the front gate, the tires crunching against the gravel as it bore the squad car's weight. He stopped at the kiosk and shown the guard his credentials. I didn't make eye contact, but I could feel their eyes were pointed at me. The guard saw everything was in order and waved him through.

Once we were in the Kevlar wall perimeter, I saw multiple temporary buildings were set up. These were square pods of various sizes, perhaps made out of the same material as the walls. They were all painted navy blue and held no writing but the manufacturer's decals. So bland, yet so quick and easy to set up. I was taken to the back of the Interpol camp where the Kevlar walls were joined with the existing Soho Great Wall. A small shack that looked like it was put together by plastic panels was set up. It was long as a trailer,and the words _Correctional Housing_ was plastered above its plastic door. Officer Hoover pulled the car up to the building where two URP SWAT team officers came out. Hoover and Quincy didn't get out, they were just the delivery boys. The URP troops opened the door and I was grasped by a rubberized-metal clamp. It almost crust my chest and arms. I didn't struggle as they pulled me out of the car and carried me inside the "Correctional Housing" building. I glanced back at Hoover and Quincy, they just sat there and stared at their dashboard. I can tell they were regretting bringing me here.

The air inside the makeshift building smelled like fresh plastic and vinegar. Everything had a plastic cardboard-like texture. It was like being inside of a giant cardboard box that was repurposed into a dollhouse. There was office equipment everywhere, radio comms and monitors were plastered over some walls. Interpol's logo were all over the place. Intimidating, yes. They need to be. It makes you wonder if they were really good people at all. How can anybody tell they weren't an authoritarian government that demands unquestionable loyalty? As they hauled me to the back room I caught sight of white-collar working stiffs, they manned the computers and desks. They acted like robots, typing away at their keyboards or reviewing important documents. None of them looked up as I passed by. I could tell they were good people, but they were powerless to help me. They just work here.

The police had a special cell waiting for me down a series of small rooms. I was taken to the back where they opened the plastic door. Inside was a chrome skeleton cube big enough to hold a raichu. It had a small latrine, a simple hole the size of the diameter of a soup can cut into the corner of the metal base board. A plastic bottle three liter bottle was mounted by the side. It was filled to the brim with water, capped with a metal spout suited for my mouth. The Interpol soldier holding me placed me inside the cube and released the rubberized claw. He quickly pulled the claw out of the cube and the walls went live with a transparent plasma force field. It made the air taste like metal and smell like ozone.

My eyes burned as I peered through the forcefield. The URP officers left the room and closed the door behind me. When they locked the door I turned my attention to the water spout. It was sticking out through the corner of the cube, avoiding the force field altogether. I rushed up to it and clasped my mouth over the spout. I was thirsty, I hadn't have anything to drink in hours. They probably put drugs in the water to throw me into a stupor. That didn't matter, they may be doing me a favor in giving me relief, not making the situation for their benefit. I pressed the tip of my tongue against the metal ball and water start coming out. I drank until my belly was full, then stepped back and took a deep breath.

Well, here I am. Trapped in a box, again. History has a tendency to repeat itself. But at least this one was different. I let them take me away. No resistance, just my cooperation. These were trusted people after all. They have no tolerance for corruption. That, however, did not guarantee they weren't going to kill me. The blanket of society had nasty holes in its fabric and Interpol is here to patch them up. They see me as one of the pokémon who was making those holes. I don't blame them. I took over the PRA after Nobark passed away, now I must bear the responsibility and consequences for my best-friend.

 **. . .**

There was no clock within the room, but I have a good sense of time. It was around 1532, I had been here for a couple hours now. It was hot and I was cooking. The water gave me no drug-induced ailments so I kept drinking it down. I wondered if there was a pin hole in the wall with a mounted camera, watching my every move. It wasn't like I was going anywhere, so why bother keeping an eye on me like some kind of Big Brother?

After hours of waiting, the door finally opened. I sat up from snoozing and squinted to see who it was. Jenny, _Agent_ Jenny, walked right in. She wore a pristine black Interpol uniform, she must have the time to clean herself up after helping me defend the pokémon center. She had a folding chair under her arm. The feet were rubberized, of course. She unfolded the chair before me and sat down. I wasn't sure what I was going to say, nor did I know how to say it. What did Agent Jenny want, and why was she here to see me?

"How are you holding up?" she asked.

"Tired," I spoke. "This cage is getting hot."

She reached over the top of the cube and pressed a button, the force field enclosing the cage's ceiling vaporized and fresh cool air rushed in. "You need anything, Tes?"

"A lawyer," I said.

"We're finding one right now."

"Who's we?"

"Interpol."

I asked, "What am I being charged with?"

Agent Jenny said, "Multiple accounts of vandalism, property destruction. Most of it is in Soho's jurisdiction, but since the city charter has been nullified by Unova they're going to be dropped."

"So what am I really here for?"

"For one, you have an assassination charge on your head. You are being accused of assassinating the late Chief Hattricks of the Soho PD."

I said nothing.

"They found hair samples at his house, the DNA is yours without question. The murder weapon was wiped clean, but they found plenty of fingerprints on Hattricks's wallet."

"That was in Nobark's possession."

"It was on his body when he died."

I said nothing.

Then Agent Jenny said, "My Sheriff counterpart in the town of Dixie has been indicted on negligence. Have you met her?"

I merely said, "I have a right to be silent, but please tell me what you know. What makes you say I know her?"

"The other charges were burglary, they found hair samples inside of a citizen's house. Your DNA. The Unova Transportation Authority collected skin and hair samples from the welcome sign of Dixie that had an obviously-shaped pikachu dent in it. Again, your DNA. We found poacher equipment near that town that also bore your fingerprints. A man named Andy _Westinghouse_ became a person-of-interest when multiple illegal firearms were discovered at his house. Some of those weapons have your fingerprints on them. The URP also found hair samples all over his house that belongs to you, according to the DNA tests."

I said nothing.

"This case has been building up for quite a while. We even found a dead swoobat in a dumpster at Springfield, your hair samples were found on the body. The ATMs were also drained of cash, they have your fingerprints. The empty cash registers have your fingerprints."

I said nothing.

Agent Jenny added, "Tesla, I have never seen a police investigation this thorough before. They looked at things that people would normally overlooked. I don't even know why they checked the dumpster, I don't even know why they checked the ground around it for evidence as well. Whatever you did, you pissed them off. You're getting one charge after another, it's mad."

I held my peace.

Agent Jenny leaned forward and said, "Tesla, do you know what this means?"

I said, "You tell me."

She sighed, "All these charges, plus the murder charge of a public official, is under URP's jurisdiction. Interpol is involved because of the possibility of an invasive species spreading through that area, instead they found evidence you may have committed murder. Chief Hattricks's assassination is the last straw."

"This is not Interpol charging me, just the URP?"

"Correct, I made sure you're clean with Interpol but there is nothing I can do about the URP."

I said nothing.

"If you were to leave Unova, then my efforts have been negated."

I said, "Does it look like I'm going anywhere?"

Agent Jenny shook her head, "No, it doesn't."

She reached up over the cube and hit the button again. The forcefield sealed itself back up, trapping me again. I asked, "Wasn't that a security risk?"

Agent Jenny said, "You have enough as much as I do. I'm sorry it has to end like this Tesla."

"Don't worry about me, you save yourself from here on out. I'll handle my own battles, no pun intended."

I think she cracked a smile, but she was hiding it. Agent Jenny stood up but left her chair where it was, she walked toward the door and opened. She didn't look back nor even paused for a moment, she just kept right on going and locked the door behind her. I smiled, I think she liked me, even though I was an asshole.

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

I adjusted my eye-goggles and blinked. They were starting to make my head sore. Odd, I had been wearing eye-goggles for seventy years and I never had a problem like this. The eye-goggles were an unusual solution to my myopia. I was so badly near-sighted that I couldn't make out the hairs of my own hand. Irvin's own best-friend, Matthew Kissinger, rigged up a pair of prototype eye-goggles from his own spectacles after I plowed my head into the wall by his front door. Over the years I had the goggles replaced from wear-and-tear and abuse. First the frames were made out of a solid leather. Now I was wearing eye-goggles with a hard black plastic frame that looked more like a welder's set than a biker's, the straps made out of flexible polyethylene straps. The straps were black with a purple stripe running across the middle. I couldn't remember when I last got it, the memory eluded me.

I blinked and massaged my temples. I never had a problem with them before, why am I having a problem with them now?

My discomfort was forgotten when the door opened again. This time a man I never met before. He wore a URP officer uniform. He had a classic thick mustache, his golden hair neatly combed. He walked in and sat down in the chair, didn't looked at me in the eye. He had a file in his hands, he opened it and read, "Tesla Westinghouse," he spoke with a voice less gentle and more assertive than Agent Jenny's. "Serial number: KVF115. I am Lieutenant Trevor McDougall of the Unova Regional Police. I am here regarding the charges being held against you."

I said nothing.

"Officer Hoover and Quincy, your arresting officers, did not give you the required legal warning. Do you understand your right to be silent, and to have a lawyer?"

I said, "I understand my rights."

Lieutenant McDougall flipped a page and said, "Among all the vandalism and public destruction charges, the most serious one is the murder of a high level law enforcement officer. The sentencing will land you from 45 years to life in a maximum security prison. The evidence against you proved without doubt that it was you."

He didn't say the death penalty, which wasn't surprising. I'm an ancient after all, why bother using the death penalty when I'm going to die anyway?

McDougall looked at me in the eye and said, "I've seen a lot of cases, but not one that involves a pokémon, especially one with a charge like yours."

I said nothing.

"According you your profile, and your serial number, you were born in Viridian Forest in the Kanto region. If convicted, you will be sent back to Kanto to serve out your sentence. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

McDougall said, "Your lawyer will further brief you on your options when he gets here. Right now his arrival is delayed, it is unknown when he will show up."

I studied this McDougall guy. He's an honest cop, a good person, doing his job at its finest. He didn't care who I was or used to be. Everyone is viewed as equal under the law. He didn't ask me how I came to speak the human language, didn't ask me about my eye-goggles. Nothing personal. He just told me what I needed to know and nothing else. The URP had his hand right up his ass, using him as a puppet for their bidding. I didn't ask him about Agent Jenny, as she might not have been authorized to speak with me. He didn't mention Nobark's name, which meant that all the charges are against me are only for me. He didn't mention Emmett's name nor his son Mark, so he didn't know about the charges I used to hold in Faraday City.

I asked, "Why is my lawyer being delayed?"

"I wasn't told why," said McDougall, "and I don't need to know why, just that he is being delayed and nothing more."

I frowned. Of course, "need to know" information.

Lieutenant McDougall flipped through my file a few more times, probably checking everything he was sure he got covered, then looked at me again. "You have anything to add, Tesla?"

Anything to add? So you can use it against me in a court of law? Where was that in your warning? I didn't show him emotion, didn't show him anger. If I had shown fear, anger, or grief, there's a chance it will be used against me. Of course, this is an honest cop, not a corrupt scumbag like Hattricks. I took a deep breath, and spoke, "You're an honest cop, right?"

McDougall raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I try my best to be."

"What do you think about this? The oppression here? The conflict? Do pokémon even have rights anywhere at all?"

McDougall said, "The regional and world governments didn't say pokémon _didn't_ have rights. Nothing in their constitutions say that pokémon didn't specifically have or don't have any rights, but the world constitution states that no person should neither be held for slavery nor involuntary servitude."

"What does the term _person_ mean?"

"It usually means human beings, or people, but the Global Supreme Court has stated that any _non-human_ being with a rational conscience with the capability to speak, read, and write human speech, and understands the concept and capability to muster and use ideas, is considered a person. Since you have a high level of intelligence who understands putting ideas into practice, and can read and write, then you are _officially_ a person."

I said, "That doesn't make sense if pokémon that aren't considered _persons_ has the ability read and write, but can't speak. The Nurse Joy assistants have a high level of intelligence and are very literate. Does that make them a person?"

"Only if they act like one."

"What do you mean if they _act_ like one?"

McDougall closed up the file and stood up. "I'm a cop, not a psychologist. Ask your lawyer when he shows up."

Just as he started for the door, I said, "You're doing the right thing. Most people don't treat me like a person, just a mindless extension of my trainer's personality."

McDougall stopped and paused. I continued, "Well I'm nothing like my trainer, I have my own personality and I have my own needs. His other pokémon will follow his commands without question, I think otherwise. I should have let him put down Nobark, nipped it at the bud. If Nobark had died then, none of this would have happen, and I wouldn't even be here."

The URP lieutenant thought for a moment, then said, "I'll be right back."

He left the room, locking the door behind him. I lie down on the floor of the cube cage, and waited.

 **. . .**

He came back after a few minutes, and this time he brought in a friend. This guy wore a black suit, government-issue. The guy had black hair and deep hazel eyes, his face serious as fuck. He reached into his coat and pulled out a digital voice recorder and placed it on the table. The play button was engaged.

"Start in the beginning," said McDougall.

I told him everything he needed to know. Nobark had been my best-friend since the day I had met him. He was a young scrafty then, and we all knew he had mental health issues. When his dissociative personality disorder gotten worst, Irvin and I tried to treat the problem. All efforts produced mixed results. Eventually it got so bad that Nobark's life became unbearable, but he still wanted to live, so when Irvin declared that he was going to have him put down I stepped in and protected him. It didn't take much convincing, and Nobark was spared. But when Irvin passed, Nobark's condition deteriorated and fled back to Unova. After all these years, he finally made it back to his ancient home.

"What happened after he set foot in Unova again?" Lieutenant McDougall asked.

I said, "From what he told me, he picked up a friend of his, then started building the Pokémon Resistance Army. After five years went by, Soho was attacked, and the conspiracy revealed itself."

"What made you go finding him?"

"He killed a pokémon trainer whom I trusted to take care of one of my relatives. I started investigating, picked up the pieces, and I eventually figured out what happened. Nobark didn't like the guy, or at least the bad part of Nobark didn't, he sent out his hit squad to take him out."

"Who was this hit squad?"

Smugleaf Stucky – a snivy, and Wotter – a dewott, carried out the hit order. The two seem to have a love/ hate relationship. Smugleaf was seductive, a spry snake girl who was very handy with a knife. Wotter preferred intimidation rather than persuasion, and so uses force to get what he wants. I coaxed Smugleaf to attack Wotter, mutilate his gonads, after he raped a friend the snivy dearly loved. The pink oshawott, Bubbles, didn't make it, she was later killed from a one pokémon ambush outside the pokémon center. Since I didn't like holding grudges on people and pokémon, I sent her, Wotter, and another of their close associates to Faraday Island with Mark. Whatever happened to them, I have yet to find out.

I didn't plan on giving Wotter and Smugleaf anymore grief, the story between the two is messed up and should not be retold. Rather than answering McDougall's question, I said, "I have a right to remain silent, that information is under no need to know basis. All I can say is that they are no longer a problem."

"You have to give us that information," said McDougall, "you'll be penalized if you don't."

I said, "What more can you do to me? I'm old for fuck sake. Fuck the extended sentence, I'm going to die in prison no matter what."

McDougall looked at black suit guy, he merely stared back. They didn't have much of a plan to interrogate me. They still have a lot to live for, my time is running out. I had the upper hand on this interrogation from the start, there wasn't much they could do to me.

"So tell me, McDougall," I said. "The phone lines are down, my lawyer is being delayed, and I can tell by the look in your eyes that you've got an immediate problem coming your way."

He said nothing.

"You got walls surrounding this part of the camp, the city government is decapitated, and what is left of the PRA is in hiding. But the Pokémon Resistance Army is not your main concern, is it?"

"Then what is?"

Bingo, got him hooked. Now to reel him in. "The situation in Soho had been broadcast on the news all over Unova. I can't say if the news is multi-regional, but I have no doubt that social media had spread word on what is happening here."

McDougall said nothing.

"I've studied psychology, studied anarchists in particular. You know who are anarchists, right? People who are appalled at authority. There are many different kinds of anarchists, but the kind that you should be worried about is the ones who hate government. It doesn't matter what kind of government, but an authoritarian government like Soho is bound to fuel a radical anarchist."

McDougall said nothing.

"If these radical anarchists discovered a glaring hole in the fabric of society, they're going to stick their fingers in it and tear the hole wide open. The lack of a city government is that hole, so you got anarchists coming in from all over Unova to stir up shit. You think Marshal law is going to help? There hadn't been a case where a city's government fell in _decades,_ let alone centuries. They're going to come in with their Molotovs and their circle-A bannisters and start destroying shit. If there is any PRA troops left in Soho, they're going to protect themselves. They'll add fuel the fire, and they have military-grade gear while the anarchists have sticks and stones."

McDougall said, "How do you know this?"

"I've studied the subject, I know what to expect. Unova's nice in all but the dark side of human nature has a lust for chaos. The riot squads here won't be dealing with angry Soho residents who had enough of a police state, you'll be dealing with hardcore anarchists who will attack any authorities on sight. These people are so dangerous that they will even attack their own _leaders_ if their lust for squashing authority isn't met. These are dangerous people, more dangerous than an old pikachu with a rap record."

McDougall sucked in his mouth, then said, "The URP never had problems with anarchists, no problems at all in the past 50 years. If what you said is true, it will be a first time scenario of civil unrest."

"It's one fuck of a bet," I said. "But I'll take your word for it."

"And I'll take yours," said McDougall. "You're a very highly educated fellow, aren't you?"

I said nothing.

McDougall picked up the digital recorder and hit the stop button. He turned to his assistant and nodded toward the door. Both men left the room, locking the door behind them.

I sat in silence, staring at the wall where McDougall had been. If civil unrest is a real possibility, I would have seen signs of it by now. I barely saw any form of human life in Soho besides the occasional "street cop". I sat there for a moment, thought the conversation I had with McDougall. I let out a loud swore. By telling him about the potential cause for anarchy in Soho, I had given him something he could use against me. So if Soho did get attacked by anarchists, then the URP had something else to hold against me. Of course, that may not be possible but it won't stop them from trying, and I have no other legal way to defend myself.

I punched the force field with my fist, then yelped. My osteoarthritic hand screamed with pain. I dropped to my side and nursed it, checking for broken bones. I didn't feel any breaks, but it still hurt a lot.

 **. . .**

The clock in my head told me it was 7:32PM. Everything was quiet save for the buzzing of the forcefields. My belly started to growl, I hadn't eaten anything since this morning. I wasn't sure if they were liable to feed me or not, but I can go hungry for a few days, I have done it before. I crawled up to my water bottle and drank some down. The bottle was now half-empty, I better ration it. I rubbed my belly and moaned. Not a good feeling to have when you are a pokémon, especially a rodent who takes eating a high priority. Food hypnotize pokémon, establishes trust, and for most pokémon the lack of food tears them apart. I wasn't sure why but feeling hungry was a good sign. I think it showed I still have plenty of life left in me.

The water helped suppressed the hunger, but to a degree. The air inside the cube was getting hot and stuffy again. I crawled myself up to the toilet of a glory hole and urinated, then laid down on my back. If I was going to be here for a while, I better get all the sleep I could get. I didn't wanna have to deal with potentially hostile humans while tired. Sleep when you can, while you can. Army grunts know this tactic well enough.

I laid there for a few minutes, then opened my eyes. This was the third time I was put inside of a cage. The cages before were primitive and simple, standing metal bars sandwiched between two plates. I was forced into those cages and I festered in them. This one was different. I wasn't forced into this cage as I offered no resistance, and this cage wasn't really a cage at all, just a specialized force field. I bet they also ground the cage so my electric attacks were futile. I don't even plan on trying. The last time I ground electricity while standing on a metal plate, I had burnt myself. And it isn't like there are friends nearby to come to my aid for burned feet. If I start showing resistance, I could get in a lot more trouble with the law and my seizure will be a lot less comfortable. I don't wanna be sleeping on stone that will act as a heat sink against my tiny body.

Of course, I could just shock the forcefield itself. Maybe overcharge and disable it. But I don't know how the forcefield works. Nanites or photon particles, or something that shines and becomes a solid. If I were to weaken it enough to let me through but still active, I could risk hurting myself. Maybe a thundershock would kick up a lot of smoke in this tight box. It's already stuffy in here as it is, I don't wanna dirty the air any further.

I stared at the forcefield ceiling for a moment, my thoughts on food drifted to the conversation in the next room. I could hear over the buzzing of the forcefields of the cops talking to each other. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were talking, speaking. I only wish I could listen in to them, might help with the boredom, or the loneliness, whatever that needs boosting. I'm not sure why but there some sort of, aura, in listening into somebody's conversation. Even though you don't understand the situation they're talking about, it keeps the mind occupied. I'm still a pikachu after all. A social mouse. I had so much hardship in the past few days that I just wanna hear something positive for once. Something good. Something that isn't so hostile, or even evil.

That thought unearthed another thought. Oh fuck, the Dixierats! Agent Jenny had said that her Sheriff counterpart in Dixie had been indicted and Andy may be on the run. These two people had been taking care of the local mice pokémon population. They were all extended relatives of mine, all of them can trace their ancestry back to me. Polly and I had brought a lot of pichu babies into the world, and our children had children, and their children had children. Some of these mice pokémon were being shipped from one pokémon lab to another for research and experiments. Despite being held against their will, my descendants were treated very well, so well in fact that some didn't even wanna be released. If they were suffering at all, it was because of personal reasons.

From what I was told, the Dixierats were accidentally released when a train carrying two cars of them derailed. The oldest one there, one of my many sons, had been horribly mutilated in the crash. He lost an eye and some body appendages, but he took the initiative and got everybody out. When he was no longer needed, he slipped into depression. He missed his mother, and he wondered where I was. I'm not sure how I did it, but this old pikachu, ready to give up on life, was revitalized when I showed up. He was upset because he only wanted the comfort of a parent. I felt happy when I hugged his battered body, and yet I feel sad, sad because I have just met one of my children at the elder stage of his life. His health was more deteriorated than mine, his body was starting to fail, but from during the entire time I was there he was happy. Happy because I was there for him.

A part of me wished I hadn't left Dixie. Initially it was because I wanna follow Ash Ketchum, wanted to be with him. But honestly, the reason runs deeper than that. I've seen the Dixierats and I felt shame from them. There were threesomes, lack of discretion, horrid toilet humor. One of the Dixierat leaders, Rayovac, a monstrous lab reject, was childish and was eager to get on my nerves. For fuck's sake, he touched my butt. I didn't need no fucking boost, Ray! Fuck you!

I did get something out of Dixie, a pichu. Oh she was a little sprite. Her name was Volta, the brief word on her was that her mother was killed during a poacher raid and her surviving father was in no state to take care of herself. I decided to bring her along, try to get a chance on being the proper father-figure I had been so denied from the pokémon breeders that held Polly.

It didn't worked out the way I expected it. I had been drinking, and I was drinking a lot. I didn't realize how much I was drinking until Volta tells me about my misadventures. I think I induced anxiety in her, because she had figured out that I was vulnerable when I am drunk. It got so bad that she caught me sneaking out to find beer to drink and she destroyed the bottle, and this was right after I got back from the pokémon center after being treated for _cirrhosis._

She wanted to be like me, but she didn't wanna be _that_ me. It led to the point where I had to let her go, give her up to somebody else. So when she evolved into a pikachu, I gave her to Cabot Richardson, a young man I had met before under different circumstances. I don't know, my life seems to be loosely connected from one story to another, and there's something about these stories that made me wonder if they were even worth telling. Volta was upset when I revealed the news to her, but she understand. She understand that I could not provide the resources I used to enjoy: a warm house, running hot baths, plentiful food, and safety. Cabot can provide that, I can't, so it makes sense to give her up.

So noble at the time, until Nobark asserted himself.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears. Everything was so hot that I never had the time to cry. I don't know why I was crying. Crying because I had lied to Volta because I promised she would be safe with Cabot? Or was it because I poorly took care of her? I tried to imagine I was in here for those crimes. Child negligence, rather than the assassination charge I was facing.

My eyes popped open when I heard the door opened, I looked up and saw McDougall had come back. He hit a button on the cube and deactivated the front force field of my cell. The Lieutenant sat a sheet of paper and a black ball-point pen before me. I blinked, my eyes were so worn out I could barely make out the words of the page. Nonetheless, I could see the characters well enough. It was a confession letter, detailing much of what I am being charged with. Is this admitting guilt? Or this is being used for a potential reduction in my sentence? I wasn't sure, nor did I care. I was finished.

McDougall didn't need to explain it to me, I took the ball-point pen in my tiny hand and signed my name across the dotted line.

I handed the pen back to McDougall and he took the confession slip away. He left the room, locking the door behind him. It was the last time I would ever see that cop again.

 **. . .**

I drifted in and out of a dream state. Some of the time I was waiting, part of the time I was recounting the past events I went through. Most of the time I was mourning. Nobark was a good friend, a close friend. One of the few remaining Westinghouse Army members who walked the face of the earth. The planet just witness another WA member fall, this time it was by my own hand. I feel like I was the last one alive, last one remaining from a bygone era. The days of cheering in pokémon arenas, hearing my name being called out on the speakers, all that hardship Irvin and I had to endure, was gone. In the end, none of it was worth it. Not all injuries heal completely. I could feel some of my old wounds were aching again, wounds that hadn't bothered me in 40 years. I groaned, I was miserable.

No one came to feed me, no one came to even see me. I felt I was forgotten, left to die inside of a box. I never felt this alone in years. I knew I still had supporters from the old days. But what can they do? Legally, almost nothing, not even a cop friend can help get me a reduced sentence. I wasn't sure when this lawyer guy was even showing up. Probably they had lied about him. True, humankind are expert liars. But the URP were professionals. They have evidence. I wasn't sure how long I can sit here and wait for a trial that may never even come. I heard enough cases where people were held for years without a trial. Sounded like some sort of detective mystery plot gone wrong, not that I know what a mystery novel looks like. If I was being held without trial, then it would be a matter of time before I expire. All legal efforts exhausted and rendered unusable.

I woke up again to use the bathroom, I think it was somewhere around 11PM. I did my business down the glory hole and had a little drink from the bottle. I was about to go back to sleep when I felt the ground started shaking. I went full alert, bracing myself against the floor of the cage. What was that? Did something just blow up, or dropped?

Another concussion rocked the ground, this time the lights flickered. The cube malfunctioned and the force fields went down, the lights going out with them. The buzzing of the force fields were replaced with shouting, gunfire, screaming. Did war erupt again in Soho? I would try to escape, try to make a run for it, but I just sat there and listened. If there was fighting outside, then it wasn't my fight. Something was happening, and unless the PRA has returned for another fight then there was something else going on.

I heard something crashed on the roof, I looked up and saw the cracks between the walls and ceiling were shining orange. The air smelling like burnt plastic. I finally jumped down from my cage and dropped to the floor. I couldn't go through the door, it was locked, so I went to the back corner. I mustered all my energy and my tail lit up. It turned to silver steel. I swung it around and smashed it against the corner of the room. The wall was merely held in place by clamps, not screwed on or anything. The panel popped free and I could see the rail yard gravel outside, I jumped out into the midnight air.

And I saw total anarchy.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

The world went mad that night. Soho was burning, again. I got out of the correctional building just in time to see one arching toward me. I ran, hugging the Kevlar wall. I felt the heat rip across my back as the Molotov ignited the plastic jail house like kindling.

I tried to get a good look at the attackers. All I saw were armored URP units holding up their Mossberg Persuaders, firing tear gas and bean-bag rounds at shady figures outside the garrison. They wore dark sweaters and carpenter gloves. Their hoods were pulled up over their heads and their faces were covered with black handkerchiefs. Classic anarchists, just when I was wondering when they would turn up. What I didn't realize was the sheer size of the mob. Everybody was packed shoulder to shoulder, spanning as far as the horizon. Powerful spot lights were shined at the protestors, revealing an array of angry hooded figures. More tear gas was fired, the mob returned kindly with more Molotovs. These weren't mere beer bottle petrol bombs, they were wine bottle-sized. When they smash against the ground they left huge pools of liquid fire with a diameter of three meters. So much fire and smoke was kicked up. I ran for safety, my mouth and nose started to burn. Thanks to Matt for the eye-goggles, they spared my tear ducts. But the smoke was getting up my nose, and it was causing my eyes to water and nearly blinding my vision.

I saw no way out. This fucking massive cinderblock border wall plus the Kevlar barriers had me trapped. Time to improvise. I dashed toward the Kevlar wall on all fours and climbed up one of its support beams. I poked my head over the barrier and froze. The mob had spread itself around the police camp and was trying to force their way through the barriers. Some of the mob were pushing against the barriers, others were climbing over each other. I peered through the crowd and saw that they were bringing in ladders. Long ones, like 7 meters long. I wasn't sure if the anarchists or protestors were hostile to me. This city was destroyed by pokémon after all.

Before I had the chance to consider my options, a shotgun boomed and a bean bag round struck my shoulder blade. It was like being sucker punched by a fist fighter. I was punched against the barrier, slamming my chest against its edge. I tried hanging on but my grip slipped and I end up falling down. I hit the ground, landing on my calf. Pain ripped through my leg, I couldn't hear my own scream over the mob.

I looked up and a SWAT member aiming his shotgun at me. He wasn't taking any chances, he stood back and fired another round. It struck my gut, causing me to topple backwards. Stunned, I staggered back onto my feet and returned fire with a bolt of lightning. The lightning bolt struck the cop and sent him flying across the gravel, he crashed against the temporary jail house and dropped on the gravel. He didn't get back up.

Sore and dizzy, I started scanning for a way out. I limped over to the other side of the camp and got a good view of the gate. The mob was getting angrier by the minute. The chain-linked fence gate couldn't take any more abuse. URP and Soho officers were shouting orders at each other. Whoever was the main field officer, he or she was either killed or incapacitated. The SWAT officers kept their guns pointed at the mob but refrained from firing. They never had experienced a mob this violent because no mob ever got this violent. They were experiencing it for the first time, but I was no stranger to chaos.

I've seen plenty of protests and civil unrest at Faraday City over the years, even participated in the looting during a blackout of Faraday City. In those days, the entire city was dependent on the Island's power grid. Somehow that got cut and people started going on a looting frenzy. I heard rumors that it was so bad that some of the cops actually participating in the looting, and those who were deployed to handle crowd control had to stow detainees in the trunks of their cars because there weren't enough space. Faraday Island was suffering economic problems back in the day, the shortage of jobs and trade deficit made the denizens lose their shit.

The gate finally broke off its rail and tipped inward, crashing against the gravel in a plume of dust. As the mob poured in, cops sprang on their feet and started emptying shell after shell of bean bags at the incoming mob. A few protesters went down, but more kept coming. A few of them were holding blunt weapons like crowbars, baseball bats, and tire irons. Some cops ran out of ammo in their shotguns. Some slung them on their backs, others just tossed them aside. They all pulled out their batons, regrouping to their comrades who had a riot shield perimeter set up. They braced themselves the hoodlums charged and crashed into the riot police. The police were overwhelmed. Cops were pinned to the ground as the mob ran them over in a human avalanche, then proceed to kick the crap out of them. Blood splattered and bodies dropped, both sides were at a stalemate but the mob had the upper hand. They surrounded the remaining riot police where they blocked my view of the final showdown.

Damn, what did they do to piss them off? I wasn't sure what I was waiting for, so I scrambled up the support beam a second time and looked over the Kevlar barrier. This time it was clear, but not for long. I saw in the distance some rioters coming my way. I jumped down and rolled, bounced up and started running. I ran as fast as my arms and legs could allow. I navigated my way passed several train cars and made my way onto the street. Looters were starting to make their presence known in other parts of the city. They were breaking through boarded up windows with crowbars, pulling out whatever they could find. I stuck to the shadows and kept going. I didn't have a destination in mind. I drifted toward the Soho Pokémon Center since that was the only place I ever felt I was safe in this town. I held it off with Mark, Rex, and Agent Jenny against the PRA hordes and won the battle. I knew that Nurse Joy had left the pokémon center. I wasn't sure who occupied it now, it had been days since I last visited the place.

There was no power in Soho, the street lights were dead, and the only illumination in the city were the fires that were breaking out. Arsonists no doubt, pyromania is quite a hard urge to suppress. Some people howled with joy as glass smashed and car alarms sing, followed by the roar of flames. I stuck close to the wall of the back alleys and kept moving, keeping my eyes peeled for signs of trouble.

Sure enough someone had the same idea of using the back alleys for cover, I heard running footfalls of sneakers, followed by a, "What is that thing!?" I broke into a sprint and made a mad dash out of the alley, the footfalls right behind me. I ran on to the street and slid underneath a car, scraping one of my bandages in the process. I kicked up, hit my back against the under grill of the car, and got off my scraped bandage before going still.

The humans came running out of the alley. I could make out their shoes. Yup, they were sneakers of various colors. Three pairs. All worn in from abuse and a lot of walking.

"Where did it go?" said one of the humans. "I saw it ran by here!"

"Forget about it," said another. "Stop wasting time and grab what you can before more cops show up!"

The humans jogged down the street and made a turn around the block. When I was sure the coast was clear, I checked the bandage on my side. It was filthy. Not from the dirt on the ground, but from my own blood and pus that was oozing through the stitches underneath. I checked my two other bandages. They were also filthy. I need to get them changed or I risk infection.

I crawled out underneath the car and slipped back into the alley and resumed course. I kept a steady pace, trying my best to keep my heart rate down. More windows shatter. A car alarm went off. I had to pass a building that was on fire. Arsonist probably set it ablaze for their own satisfaction. I came up to a street and stopped, then checked the streets for any humans. There were a few present, but they have their hands full. Literally. They were carrying loot they have salvaged from the nearby storefronts. Electronics were a big thing. Their hands were filled with Blu-ray players and videogame consoles and accessories. They were walking down the street, laughing to themselves. They were no threat, so I simply dashed across the street and into the next alley.

I soon approached a burned out section of town. The PRA had set several blocks of storefronts ablaze near the pokémon center. Some sewer lines had overflowed and leaked sewage into their foundations. The smell was horrid, making my stomach queasy. Good thing I hadn't eaten anything, I wouldn't be able to hold it back.

I pushed passed the ruins and made it back on to the street, then ran down toward the three-way where the pokémon center sat. There it was, sitting lonely in the middle of the grass field. The pokémon center's first-story windows were boarded, the gaping holes through the walls were covered with thick blue tarps. Surrounding the building were kicked up dirt, spent ammo casing, and dried blood that belonged to slain PRA soldiers. I could make out the spot where I last saw Nobark alive. His body was long since removed but his blood was still there, all stained black from age. The lights inside the pokémon center were off, it looked abandoned. Nonetheless, I expect somebody was going to raid it sooner or later. I better get all the medical supplies I need before I make a run for the hills.

I ran across the street and made it to one of the tarps. I pulled off one of the corners and squeezed inside. "Nurse Joy," I whispered. "It's me, Tesla. Are you still here?"

Just silence. I made my way in and found the place empty. The floor was burned and wrecked from the fighting, I could still smell the gunpowder from the weapons that were fired here. I'm not sure if the CERT team had cleaned out all of the medical supplies. Maybe they had forgotten something. The best places to check were the upper levels, since that was where they do the surgical operations and other things. The room was dark, but my eyes adjusted just enough to make out the outline of the room. I made it to the back and found the restroom doors were sealed with plastic, labeled with biohazard warning signs. Oh now I remember, sewage had backed up in those rooms. No way was I going in there.

I made it up the stairs and started searching the doctor offices. My scavenging was slow and tiresome. I was a tiny thing in this large world. I had to push chairs to climb up on desks, push other things to get higher. The CERT teams cleaned out a lot of things. I found nothing but empty cabinets and drawers. Nothing useful. I went up a level and searched those rooms. I was getting desperate. I pulled open cabinets, felt around for anything. Nothing, absolutely nothing. I swore and grabbed my temples. Stroke of fucking bad luck. I came all this fucking way to find fucking bandages, and all I found was an empty fucking pokéshit center filled with fucking dust! Fucking bullshit!

I took a deep breath, trying my best to stay calm. If I can't find any bandages, I will have to make some. Perhaps the bed sheets in the living quarters will serve that purpose, assuming those beds and blankets were still there of course.

But I don't have anything to cut them with. No knife or…

A lightbulb went off inside my head. Of course, Fort Wernher! The PRA's headquarters! Hopefully there was still supplies there. Tendon, the late medical officer, had recently stashed fresh medical supplies in her infirmary. Now I was on a whim here. Assuming the URP had overlooked the fort, it should still be safe. I wasn't sure if the PRA was still hostile. I did declare my leadership over them. I have yet to find out if my radio broadcast actually worked, not all PRA troops have radios and I doubt a few had got the message.

Just as I was about to leave, I heard the wooden boards being kicked down. I went on high alert, I started down the stairs but kept quiet. When I made it to the first floor, a column of light shined through the lobby toward the back. "This place is cleaned out," said a voice. "They probably got all the good shit."

"No matter," said another. "Search the place, see what the CERT teams left anything behind."

Looters, of course. I'm not sure if they were Soho residents or out-of-towners. I could try to negotiate with them, they block the only way out. Or I could fight my way through and hope not to get shot. I listened to their rustling and determined there were just two guys. Sneakers, so probably just young adults. I balled my fist, built up a charge.

One of the guys came walking into the back room. I made myself small as possible, even held my breath for added measure. The human eye cannot see very well in the dark environment, but it is very good at detecting movement. Heck, any human can detect movement, no matter how minor the fluctuation. If I could just stay still and be one with the background, then he wouldn't see me.

That would have worked if I wasn't as fucking yellow as the almighty sun. I heard him went, "Huh," and he spun the flashlight around. The world went white. I worked fast and punched out my fist, discharging a bright purple bolt of lightning and struck the guy. His outline lit up like a lightbulb. His body shot across the room, slamming into the back wall. His flashlight tumbled to the floor, the bulb burst from impact and went black.

"What the!?" his buddy in the backroom cried. I merely huddled in the corner and went still again.

His buddy came running into the back room, centering his flashlight on his friend. His friend's body was severely burned, his skin and clothes were charred black, still smoking. "Oh shit shit _shit!"_ his friend cried. He shined the flashlight around, centered it on me.

I gave him no time to react. I let out another bolt. He tumbled back and hit the wall with a thud before dropping on the ground. I checked the flashlights, both were mini Maglites. Small, yet powerful. The bulb from the first guy's flashlight was fried but the second one was still shining. I picked it up and shined it on the looters. They weren't people I knew, which was fine by me. I didn't bother to loot the bodies or merely check them for bandages. I didn't wanna leave any more evidence of my presence behind. So I clicked off the flashlight and carried it with me out of the pokémon center. Not much of a find, but invaluable on a night like this.

 **. . .**

When the pokémon center was out of sight, I started feeling sad. You know, to tell you the truth the use of violence wasn't even necessary. They weren't armed, I could have talked my way out of that situation or just sat and hid until they were gone. Those guys probably had families, they weren't young enough to be out of college yet. I pushed the feelings toward the back burner. This was not a time to get emotional. I convinced myself that they might have some bad intentions. Just some. Not enough to cause society problems, but enough to intrude into other people's business. I was a foreign pokémon in a strange land, covered with wounds, and have a pissy attitude. Not to mention I can _talk_ , now that is going to surprise them a bit. Humans are greedy, no wonder they were illegally busting into places where they shouldn't supposed to go. I have a good reason to be at that pokémon center. I had wounds that need rebandaging, and I was risking infection.

Though humans are greedy, but they still have the urge to help each other. They could have helped me if I had let them.

I broke into a sprint, I didn't wanna think about that anymore. I gotta get out of Soho, this place is just too mad for a small pokémon like me. I didn't bother using stealth. I just want out, I want out of this place.

I went for the checkpoint where Agent Jenny led me through days earlier after the escape from Fort Wernher. I never thought I would be going back to that place. So far I hadn't seen any live or dead PRA troops. They were out of sight, out of mind. If there were still some PRA units left in Soho, then they were in hiding. Maybe some were even trying to look for a way out of Soho. There were plenty of holes in the walls, nobody bothered to patch them up after the second Soho attack. Hopefully some of them got out, hopefully they were still friendly.

When I reached the checkpoint, I got behind cover and surveyed the area. It was abandoned. No guards, no lines. All the terminals were shuttered and locked. The gate that would normally be pulled across the checkpoint was destroyed. Somebody had cut it down and peeled it back, now the gate laid on the ground like it was a welcome mat. I made a dash toward the checkpoint and exited out the other side. Here was a symbol of authority, normally used to regulate incoming and outcoming traffic. Now it was abandoned, allowing everyone to come and go as they please.

I wasn't sure why there weren't any guards. Somebody had to be guarding it. When I got closer, I soon realized why. This place was attacked. I could make out the burn marks of what used to be burning fuel from smashed fire bottles. Spent .12-gauge shells and tiny bean bags were everywhere. I could make out some blood spatter where the attackers might be standing. The door leading behind each terminal were either forced open or smashed off their frames. I crawled up to the door and peeked inside. Yeah, somebody was pissed. The computer towers were missing, the monitors, keyboards, and mice were smashed to bits. Filing cabinets were ripped open, their documents destroyed or covering the floor. The drawers by the desks had their locks forced and were pulled open. A cash register was smashed apart, its drawer missing.

Somebody was _really_ pissed. They made sure to cause so much damage that it would cost the port authority a lot of money to fix. I surveyed the main booth and checked for any first aid kits. I found a spot where it should have been. Just a green and white sign pointing beneath the faint outline where a box once been. Somebody must have been hurt and had used it. If that first aid kit was still there, it would have saved me a trip. I swore and turned toward the forest. I was out of Soho now. I didn't plan on using the main road toward Carbondale, I just dashed toward the nearby forest and disappeared within the foliage.

I had went through the forest so many times that I knew it like the back of my hand, sort of. I blundered through the bushes for a while, then traveled along a dried ditch bed. I followed the same path where I led Agent Jenny, Mark, Rex, and Ash through to escape the PRA base. Not much had changed, though it looked different under the near dark conditions. It didn't go as fast as I expected it to be. I had to stop frequently to get my bearings. I didn't wanna get lost. I couldn't afford to get lost. I couldn't waste any more time in waiting and sleeping. I need to cover a lot of ground, I had to assume after twenty-four hours that I was going to be hunted down by URP forces.

So I stayed quiet and took it real slow. This forest was dead, no birds were sing nor were insects chirping. It was just me and the plants, and plants don't make noise unless the wind is blowing. I trail started becoming familiar again and I increased my pace, but I wasn't sure what I'm going to find at Fort Wernher. URP guards or remnant PRA troops from Nobark's old faction. The former, I have no doubt will be hostile. The latter, I gotta see for myself. Not all of Nobark's troops were captured or killed at the second Battle of Soho. Some were unaccounted for. Maybe they found their way back to base. Tending to their wounds, or just sitting there, thinking of what they should do with their lives. I wasn't sure if they were angry at me, or they fear me. Maybe both.

I got close enough to make out Fort Wernher's fence. The base was dark and dead. I didn't hear any noise beyond its fence. I crawled down its trench and reached Fort Wernher's eastern gate. It was closed, but it wasn't locked. That could mean a lot of things. The URP had went in and did their rounds, or remnant PRA forces had came back and didn't bother to lock the gate behind them.

 _"Psst,"_ I heard the voice of a pansear in the distance. _"Hey, yellow rat! Right here!"_

I snapped around and saw the pansear himself. Beside him was an oshawott. Both were armed with small crossbows. Both pokémon crawled out of the bushes and slid down the trench. I raised an eyebrow, expecting aggression.

 _"Damn,"_ the pansear said. _"What happened to you?"_

I merely said in pokémon speech, _"Soho happened to me."_

 _"I was in one of the PRA regiments that came in from the north, got separated from my unit. I was hoping to regroup with somebody here at HQ, but that wasn't going to happen."_

 _"Why's that?"_ I asked.

 _"The URP has it guarded, there's like a dozen officers in there. We couldn't get inside for anything."_

Well shit, I guess the former had taken over. That thrown a monkey wrench into my plans, no pun intended.

The pansear then said, _"Who are you, by the way? And what pokémon are you?"_

This time I spoke in human speech. "Tesla Westinghouse. I'm a pikachu, the mouse pokémon of the electric element."

Both the oshawott and pansear's eyes went big, I frowned, "You heard the stories about me?"

 _"Heard about you,"_ said the oshawott. _"But we never knew what you look like, until now."_

I said in pokémon speech, _"I'm Nobark's mentor and one of the last true friends he ever had, I figured he was doing something that was illegal. Now I know everything."_

The pansear asked, _"Where's Nobark?"_

I sighed, _"Madness consumed in, it was so bad that he shot me. He's dead now, his body is back home now, in Faraday Island."_

 _"Oh no,"_ said the oshawott. _"What happens to the PRA now? Who's in charge?"_

 _"I am,"_ I said. _"I'm in charge of what's left, and if anyone thinks otherwise . . . Well, I got the muscle to show it."_

The pansear blinked, _"So you're our boss now?"_

 _"Yes,"_ I said. _"The remaining PRA leaders for Fort Wernher are heading over to Faraday Island. If you need someplace to go, then that is where you guys should head. But tonight, there is something I need to get done."_

 _"What's that?"_

I showed him the bandages. _"I need to get these bandages redressed. Tendon's infirmary is holding much of the fort's medical supplies. I can't wait any longer to get these wounds treated. I need to get fresh bandages or they're going to get infected."_

The high temp pokémon checked at my bandages for a second, then asked, _"What do you need us to do?"_

 _"Get me inside without riling up the URP. Look, I'm not here to fight my way in and out. I just need to gather up a first aid kit. Help yourself to whatever you find in that base, just make sure you don't fuck up."_

I turned and started for the east gate. _"I don't like this,"_ said the oshawott.

 _"You don't have to like it, fish belly,"_ said the pansear. _"We came for supplies too, I hadn't ate in three days!"_

Eventually the two dimwits followed me to the gate. Just before I started climbing I turned toward the pansear and asked, _"A dozen officers, are you sure?"_

 _"I went up a tree and did recon not too long ago, there's a dozen."_

 _"Where?"_

 _"Around the warehouse, which is where we were planning on entering, see if there's anything we could salvage."_

 _"The food is stash there, just next to the generator room. I know, I've been in there days ago."_

The pansear's eyes lit up, _"You think you can help us get in there? I'm really hungry, Tesla."_

 _"I'm hungry too. Well, I guess it's a favor for a favor. The infirmary has some food in the back, it'll be a safer bet to raid since it's closer to the fence. You think you can handle getting in and out without being seen?"_

 _"I can handle it."_

I started up the fence, keeping a steady pace. When I reached the top, I carefully navigated over the barbed wire and dropped down from the other side. _"Careful not to cut yourself."_

The pansear and oshawott strapped their crossbows onto their backs and started climbing the fence. The pansear climbed up and over without a problem, yet the oshawott struggled. He managed to make it over okay and dropped down, grunting as he landed on his butt.

Sure enough I saw some of the URP officers in question. They were standing around, and they sounded frustrated and angry. No doubt they have heard of the riot going on in Soho, they were talking about it. They weren't sure if the PRA would come back and try to retake Fort Wernher. It was a wild-ass guess, but their paranoia is understandable. Some of the officers were staring out of the fence, their weapons drawn and ready to fire. Their eyes looked tired, barely staying open. _"They've been guarding this place since this morning,"_ whispered the pansear. _"They're not as alert as they should be."_

 _"They're street cops,"_ I said. _"They lacked the training for this."_

 _"I can tell."_

Since they weren't so alert, it wasn't that hard sneaking past them, but we move slow and steady. The human eye can detect movement in a dark background and all three of us were a rainbow team of colors. Any jerking motion will snag their attention, so we all went down on our bellies and crawled toward the infirmary. The oshawott was having the most problems with going prone. The pansear and I were quadruped, and he was bi-pedal. He was on his knees much of the time, not going low as he should. So we spread ourselves apart, putting the oshawott as far away from the cops as much as possible. When we reached behind cover, I snagged the oshawott by his fat neck and pulled him in.

 _"What was that!?"_ I hissed under my breath.

 _"What?"_ the oshawott asked.

 _"You weren't low, you were presenting yourself an easy target!"_

 _"I'm not used to going low."_

I grabbed his fat cheeks and looked at him in the eye. _"Listen to me, I don't care if you are uncomfortable! I have stitched wounds and they itch like you never believe! Don't tell me you couldn't go prone because you're not used to it!"_

I let go of him and he slumped to his rear. _"Okay then, we'll change tactics. How about we scoot ourselves across the walls and hope they don't spot us?"_

The oshawott said nothing. I turned to the pansear, he rolled his eyes, _"Shit I have to put up with."_

 _"I hear yah."_

We were right up against the infirmary, all we need to do now was curve around and get through the front door. I checked to see the coast was clear. Not everybody was looking the right way, good. I signaled the pansear and oshawott to follow me and we all made our way around the infirmary. I got right up on the door and jumped. I caught the doorknob and twisted it open. The door was unlocked and it was dark inside, I pushed the door in and we were inside. I carefully closed the door slowly. Humans are good at detecting movement.

Once the door was closed, I turned on the small flashlight. The tiny bulb lit up the room, revealing the all too familiar interior. Nothing was touched the last time I saw this place. The beds where Wotter and Swoo IV, an injured swoobat I knew, still lay rumbled. There was some dried blood on Wotter's bed, the pansear got a look at that and backed away. _"What happened here?"_

 _"One of the PRA leaders under Nobark attacked an equal ranked member,"_ I explained. _"It happened behind that warehouse, I think the floor is still covered with dewott blood so the air might have a coppery smell."_

The oshawott covered his mouth. _"Eww."_

I said, _"Hopefully there's some food still in here, I know that Tendon was quite an eater."_

 _"By the way, who's Tendon?"_ the pansear asked.

I walked up to the wall counter and jumped on top of the counter. I opened up some of the drawers. Sure enough, I found a drawer filled with gauze rolls and medical tape. If Tendon was still alive, I would have owed her a great "payment" for using her shit. I fished open the gauze roll and tore it off of its sterile packaging, I peeled off the asphalt-flavored bandage off my side and shined my flashlight at it. It looked disgusting. Blood had oozed around the stitches and was clotting around the area. Both the pansear and the oshawott made a face, the latter turning away.

 _"Tendon was an audino who used to run this place,"_ I said. _"She used to work at the Soho Pokémon Center fifteen years back. She got to a point where she had enough, and so defected to the PRA. This audino was quite fat and did not take any shit from anybody. She's also greedy to, so if you get wounded, like you see here, you have to offer up "payment" to her. Payment, as in, you sleep with her in that back room right there and do the unspeakable things."_

 _"What happened to her?"_ the pansear asked.

 _"She had a score to settle with one of her former co-workers at the pokémon center, so when the fighting was over she tried to kill her. Almost succeeded to. The Nurse Joy tried talking sense into her, but seeing how she was pinned in and is not willing to give herself up to authority, she decided to end it all on the spot. Self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, she was dead before she hit the floor."_

 _"You know this how?"_ the pansear asked.

 _"I was there."_

A bottle of hydrogen peroxide and some paper towels was sitting against the wall. So I grabbed a couple of sheets and doused them with hydrogen peroxide, then wiped the blood off around the stitches. The blood turned white from the chemistry of the antiseptic. Once I wiped it clean, I pulled the bandage off the exit wound on my back and wiped that area the best I could. Since there was a lot of gauze rolls, I took the roll I had and proceed to wrap my torso around the entry and exit wounds. Once I felt there was enough gauze, I took some medical tape and sealed everything in place.

I moved on to the stitched wound on my thigh. I pulled the bandage off this on and cleaned off all the crust and blood, and after dumping a few dabs of hydrogen peroxide on it I wiped up the excess and wrapped my thigh until the wound is well bandaged, then taped the bandages in place.

Last was my arm, the first shot I received during the fighting. I pulled the bandage off and cleaned up all the gunk, and after slathering on hydrogen peroxide I wrapped my bicep up until it was firm, then taped it down.

 _"That will do for now,"_ I said. _"Before we leave, let's search this place. I planned to be somewhere after Fort Wernher and I planned to never come back. Hopefully there's some food tucked away somewhere, saves us a trip through a guarded blood and oil stained warehouse."_

The pansear nodded, _"Fair enough."_

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

Tendon had plenty of food leftover in her private room, more than the two conscripts ever need. I refilled her old kerosene lamp and turned it on, the lamp lit up the back room with a soft-white glow. I checked her fridge. Non-perishables such as canned goods were crammed inside in no particular order. The only problem was we didn't have a can opener. As the pansear and oshawott were whining and grumbling over the tin cans, I went on searching the cabinets for anything I could use. I found a small green draw cord backpack, on the back it had a white cross with the words _First Aid_ printed underneath. Being a civilized pokémon, I took the sack and began stuffing it with first aid supplies. Make sense, since I have to occasionally change my bandages to keep my wounds clean.

 _"Did you find a can opener, Tes?"_ the pansear asked.

I finished packing the backpack and strapped it to my back. Then walked into the backroom. _"No, couldn't find an alternative either."_

 _"Are we gonna starve?"_ the oshawott cried.

The pansear said, _"I'm not, I'll probably fry you and eat your corpse for dinner!"_

 _"Knock it off, you two!"_ I said. _"Tendon wouldn't even keep canned food if she doesn't even have a can opener. Do you even know what a can opener looks like?"_

Both the pansear and oshawott said nothing.

I walked up to Tendon's old bed and picked up the can opener. It was sitting by where she rest her head. The two dumbasses didn't know it was under their noses the whole time. Perhaps they were accustomed to the electric can opener, assuming they were born in captivity.

I handed the can opener to the pansear and said, _"Clamp the can by its ridge, then start twisting this lever. The wheel should cut into the can like butter. For easier access, don't cut the lid all the way. Leave a little lip behind so it doesn't fall into the can and give you a headache."_

 _"Uh thanks, Tesla,"_ the pansear said. _"We got it from here."_

 _"I'll cover the door until you two are done stuffing each other's faces, since you guys need more nutrition than I do."_

 _"Okay, got it."_

I went toward the edge of the operating room and went prone. The pansear and oshawott got down to eating their grub. They couldn't read the labels, so I was guessing they were picking through the cans on what pictures they displayed. They bickered how it didn't looked like the picture, and then started eating it. They didn't complain much or even share, or at least the pansear wasn't big on sharing. The oshawott was begging the pansear for some of his canned food. The pansear exploded, saying, _"Get your own you fat fuck!"_

I tried my best not to laugh, that was sure funny.

It was all fun and games until the front door opened up.

The pansear had quick reflexes and slammed Tendon's bedroom door shut, the light around the gaps going dark. I killed my flashlight and held my ground, ready to ambush.

A URP trooper had walked in. His submachine gun was slung over his back, a thick Maglite clasped to his hand. He had no caution at all, no awareness. He was tired, he didn't wanna be here. I bet he was relieved from guard duty and was looking for a place to sleep. The grunt barracks smelled like shit, and Nobark's old bedroom at the command bunker was merely a mat. The elite bunker beds were probably taken, maybe Smugleaf and Wotter's beds were being kept warm tonight. If he was coming in just to sleep, he had dropped his guard. He did not expect to find the enemy in this lonely building.

So when he closed the door behind him, I sprinted and leaped toward his throat. I connected my fist between his head and zapped him. He couldn't scream, the connection to his vocal cords were disrupted. His legs gave out and he tumbled to the floor.

 _"Coast is clear, guys,"_ I said.

The backdoor opened up and both PRA troopers stuck their heads out. They sheepishly came out as I got off the guy. That took a little too much energy. I was fatigued, my sense of awareness dropping.

The pansear took a look at the officer. _"You killed him?!"_

I lied, _"No, I just knocked him out."_

The pansear and oshawott had no answer, so I said, _"Strip the body and shove him in the bathroom stall in the back. There's some more bags under that cabinet under there if you need to carry anything. We gotta move quick guys!"_

We pulled whatever we could off the body. I grabbed his machine gun, a new 9mm H&K submachine gun. I also grabbed the cop's Glock 17 and handed it to the pansear. He took it without question. The oshawott fetched some more draw cord backpacks and handed one to the pansear. He stuffed the pistol and its magazines into the bag, then pulled off the taser and extending baton. I grabbed the cop's radio and located the battery pack. I opened its panel and pulled out its Lithium battery, then sealed it back up.

The pansear and oshawott then dragged the cop to the bathroom and shoved him into the stall. They propped him up on the toilet and had the guy lean back, making him look like he was sleeping. They locked the stall door and climbed back out where we proceed to grab all the food we can carry. Once our bags were stuffed and ready to go. We head out toward the door. _"Move quietly, guys,"_ I said. _"Stay focused. We're not out of the woods yet."_

I jumped up and opened the door, then pushed it in. I stuck my head out, checked for more officers. None that I could see. We started creeping out and were making it across the building, and then the whole world lit up from a flashlight. "Tangos spotted! Engage! Engage!"

 _"Run!"_ I barked.

We all dashed toward the fence. The pansear and I were fast, the oshawott had to put in more effort. The pack was weighing him down, he was partially dragging it on the ground. My hands grabbed the chain-linked fence and started climbing, the pansear next to me was up over the edge and had already dropped down. I got to the top and dropped down, then took cover at the bottom of the trench.

 _"Wait for me, guys!"_ the oshawott cried.

The voices of cops grew louder. Flashlights were shining all over the place. I watched as the oshawott made an effort to climb the fence. He was panicking, his paws were constantly slipping against the metal the further he got up the fence. When he got to the top, a searchlight pinned him with its bright white beam. "Freeze!" a cop cried.

The oshawott stumbled and caught the wire at the top and hanged there for a second. The URP opened fire on him, bullets whizzed by him. He caught a few in his chest, they blew out of his back in cloud of red mist. I watched as the sea otter pokémon's lifeless body dropped to the ground and tumbled into the trench. The pansear's eyes went wide. There was a bullet hole where the oshawott's heart was. The poor thing was gone.

I hollered at the pansear, _"Grab his bag and let's get out of here!"_

The high temp pokémon wasted no time, he pulled off the oshawott's backpack and heaved it over his shoulder, and we disappeared into the night.

 **. . .**

We gotten to the edge of the road and ran down toward Carbondale. We didn't stop until our legs grew tired. We found a small drainage ditch by the road where we sat down to rest. I was breathing hard. My system couldn't produce enough adrenaline and everything felt sore. The pansear had other issues. He sat there hunched down, ready to vomit. Instead he covered his eyes and let out a soft cry.

 _"It wasn't your fault,"_ I told him. _"Shit happens."_

The high temp pokémon sniffled. He looked up at the sky and said, _"I didn't mean to be that hard at him. I was just stressed and hungry, I didn't mean to bicker at him!"_

 _"I can relate to that."_

The pansear sat there for a full minute, then dropped the oshawott's bag. _"My trainer suffered an accident out in the wilderness, not too far from Mistral City. We were making our way through the mountains when he slipped on some dirt. He hit the ground head first. I couldn't do anything to help him, he was long gone."_

I said nothing.

The pansear squeezed his eyes, holding back the tears. _"I stood by his body for days. After an hour, it went cold. A few more hours, he was stiff. And after two days he started to smell. I couldn't leave him, I had a strong bond with him and I just couldn't leave."_

I said nothing.

 _"The PRA picked me up somewhere around the fourth and fifth day. I was a wreck. I was starving and my fur was matted. They gave me food and comforted me and I gave them my story. They took me in, they were so caring at the time that I already felt well at home with them. Before we left for their camp, they stripped my trainer's corpse clean of his gear. The next thing I knew the PRA were training me to shoot to kill. They had guns but they preferred to use crossbows a lot. More economical that way."_

I said, _"My trainer had a heart attack twenty years ago. I had him for seventy years. I hated the bastard but I couldn't hate him_ that _much. He taught me how to speak, read, even mathematics. He had a dozen or so pokémon under his care, including Nobark. So when he died, everything just kind of fell apart. Overtime, Nobark went insane. My other friends self-destructed. I went into exile, while the rest moved on with their lives."_

The pansear said, _"So you are that old?'_

 _"Yes, I was that old. I have a world record to prove it."_

 _"What is old age like?"_

I thought for a moment, then took a deep breath. _"Depends on who you ask. For me, I was the first pikachu to reach a hundred years of life. A lot of my friends were gone by then, and those who remain are in their eighties. Nineties. The world I grew up in was gone. The times had changed. I managed to keep my senses together but my body is breaking down. The thing is you don't know when your time is up."_

 _"Damn."_

I said, _"I had friends like that oshawott. It doesn't matter if they died from stupid decisions or completed their life cycle. When there's life, there's death. The average pokémon trainer is too stupid to figure that out. But I know, I've seen it in person. Felt its wrath. A fate like that oshawott is nothing compared to your own system turning against you."_

We sat there in silence for the next five minutes. Sirens started wailing by. We hit the deck and kept our heads covered, the sirens blasted by and faded into an echo. I got up and stretched my legs. _"I gotta go, I need to be somewhere and it can't wait."_

 _"What should I do?"_ the pansear asked. _"I don't have anywhere to go, I don't even know what to do!"_

 _"Find a boat or something and make your way to Faraday Island,"_ I said. _"The PRA is being located there to avoid prosecution. The Faradians have a deep hatred for Unova and are willing to rebel against their authority. Once you're there, find a young man named Mark Kissinger. Smugleaf, Wotter, and Woody are the last remaining PRA leaders of Nobark's inner circle. They'll try to help you, but Mark will not allow anymore pokémon under his care. His place is already cramped at it is, assuming his father hadn't thrown them out yet."_

 _"Will you be okay?"_

 _"I'll be fine, I'll meet up with you at Faraday Island. Don't waste time getting there, just go."_

The pansear blinked, then nodded. _"Okay, whatever you say, Tesla. Be safe."_

 **. . .**

The pansear and I departed. I had second thoughts of going to Carbondale. Yes, I wanna check up on Pinki and see how she's doing. Yes, I also wanna check up on Team Rocket grunt O.J. Stanton's pokémon to see how they were doing as well. I have to assume the PRA had shoved its finger up that pokémon center's ass and shoved it in deep. If I were to walk into that place, I was going to leave in a cage. So, using the stars and my pokémon instincts, I went straight north approaching Springfield. I was getting tired. Of course, sleeping will have to wait. The URP is probably reorganizing a search team right now for me. I'll probably have to travel by night to avoid most of the danger, and sleep by day.

I passed by Springfield, just north of Carbondale. The last time I was here I had killed the power and raided everything. I went to the border line and checked how it was doing. Springfield was still dark, but not quite dead yet. I could make out the beams of flashlights bobbing up and down at the sidewalks. They look like regular URP street cops, no SWAT level officers with guns. They figured out it was me who fried those ATMs. Mark has all the money I managed to collect. Knowing Mark, he probably had stashed the cash under his bed, maybe laundering a hundred pokédollar bill into his bank account on occasion. I wonder how much damage everything cost in pokédollars. Maybe too much, as this town is probably going to declare bankruptcy and have its charter thrown into the paper shredder.

I left the sad little town behind and entered the woods again. I was looking for the railroad leading out of Soho. I didn't have a fixed idea where it would be, but I followed my instincts. The rail lines were made of iron, and iron is a magnetic material. Being an electric-type, I have the advantage in tracking down magnetic materials to a degree. The railroads will be the least traveled. Pokémon trainers don't often walk by because of the trains. Walking directly over the rails is a safety hazard. One moment the train isn't there, the next it's on top of you. Anyone caught underneath a gazillion metric ton locomotive will be ground into mush, like strawberries in a blender.

I doubt that the local Soho rail would be used, since the entire rail yard is full of tents and pre-fab mobile cubes. But once I get on the regional rail system, I was going to have to keep an eye out. Trains are fast and loud and ferocious, I do not wanna be spotted by the train conductor. He or she probably had heard about me on the news, assuming the URP had released my file to the public. Unlikely, but still probable.

By the time I was ready to pass out from exhaustion, I found the rail line. I quickly crossed across to the other side and delved into the forest, then find a small bush to sleep under for the night. The PRA's influence wasn't felt here, I could make out faint chirping noises of bug-types around me. I wasn't concerned about predators besides humans. I have the right of way, none of the wild pokémon here do not.

 **. . .**

I wasn't asleep for long, when I woke up I saw faint sunlight was rising from the west where Soho was. Time to get a move on. I brushed the dirt off my fur and started walking. I kept close to the forest as much as possible, but kept a good distance away from the rail. If anyone was on that rail and were to spot me, one thing will lead to another and I will be hunted for greed. I told myself no trainer has a right to have power over me, told myself that I am free. I wasn't sure what good will that do. This world is owned by a master race, and that race wants me under its control. But what's good to know is that the master race is way too busy fighting itself that a lot of pokémon remained free. Can't say the same for those under its control though.

The railroad was long and dull, devoid of activity. I kept my mind occupied by thinking back to better times. I recalled in my youth that my parents were quite the travelers. On certain days they would wake up my siblings and I and we would go exploring Viridian Forest. They were persistent on that. They wanted us to know Viridian like the back of our hands, and since it was constantly changing we had to get reacquainted with the mice pokémon's natural range. I knew they were afraid that we might never come home. I could see it in their eyes. They had lost several loved ones and heard too many stories to dismiss the possibility. I remember my mama grabbing hold of me and hugged me close when predators come within earshot. Predators like giant birds that fly above the sky, and the aggressive humans who were hunting us for profit.

We were careful. We stayed low, out of sight. My father was firm that we should stay hidden at all cost. Our yellow bodies did nothing but makes us stick out like a sore thumb. Both our parents, especially my mama, strictly warned us to stay away from humans. It didn't matter if they were friendly. We could risk losing our freedom and our lives if we were spotted. It was understandable. Electricity can hold them back for so long. Once we lose our charge, then we have little to no defenses against the human form. Forget about our teeth, we couldn't get near them if they have guns. I have seen the end result of mice pokémon being killed by .22-calibers and .308s. You would know it was a poacher and not an honest hunter. Honest hunters wouldn't leave the bodies, they would take it home and butcher them properly. Poachers often leave the corpses where they lay. The tail, hide, and the electro glands on the cheeks all removed with a sharp knife.

My parents' lessons, combined with Irvin's training, proved invaluable. I was still alive, still walking, breathing. I survived, but for what? My life at this point is just bouncing all over the place. Getting into trouble while dealing with an insecure food supply. I had to worry where I should sleep at night and where I would find food in the morning. The wilderness can provide food to a degree, but not enough. I'm not saying that berries are horrible, I just wanted something different. Salt is a must. Protein is insatiable. A neuroscientist had looked at my brain when I was in my early forties and found that I had ten times more wrinkles than the average mouse pokémon. I mean, I have a lot of wrinkles around my brain. Your average mice pokémon only have a few. Since my brain has more processing power, I needed more calories than what I could get from sitris berries alone. I needed meat, more specifically cooked meat.

This thought rose up in my mind after I got a kilometer away from Soho, then the intensity doubled after two kilometers. Pokémon instincts are strong. So strong that even though the front part of my mind kept it shut, the rest of my body was getting antsy. My mouth started to water, my belly started feeling queasy. I would get so focus on my task that I can cancel out the hunger for extended periods of time. I wasn't as focused as I used to be, so my whole system started begging for nutrition. Damn pokémon instincts. My evolved brain was too frail to reason with my gut. I was old and losing my touch.

To be honest, it didn't bother me one bit. Losing my touch. All that was Irvin's faded glory. I have no personal use for strength or prestige. I was more invested in intelligence. With intelligence, I would know what I could manipulate in my environment and how I could carve the situation to better my reward. I've played with people's minds, played with pokémon's minds. I was good at being an asshole, I can get anybody so riled up that they wanna strangle me. Which happened literally in the case of Mark, under the Faraday City sun, with me pinned between a cardboard box and a brick wall.

I shook all those thoughts out of my head, replacing it with the town of Dixie. This town, more specifically the forest around it, has my relatives. Note that I said _relatives_ , not _family._ I don't really know most Dixierats personally. I'm just a legend to them. To me, they're a bunch of inbred half-wits. Sad, I know. The breeders, scientists, or whoever the fuck was in charge of handling them during their laboratory years, wanted to create another me. They failed, miserably. Maybe they were only doing it to fill their coffers, profiting off of my relatives' suffering. Suffering, as in, breeding them till their genes have run thin, rendering them fucked. Ray suffered the worst of it, or so it seemed. There was no telling how many like Ray is alive in the world, and I got a feeling there's another rikachu walking somewhere, waiting to be released.

I got onto the main rail line and stopped. If I recalled correctly, this was a freight rail system. If the Dixierats were being hauled down this same rail system generations ago, I think I would figure out where the train carrying them had derailed.

Honestly, no, I'm not actually sure if I would recognize the spot. There's a chance I could walk right passed the tight turn where the derailment took place and not even know it was there. Maybe they rerouted the rail line so the turn isn't so tight, maybe they also stripped out the original rail to recycle for scrap.

If that was the case, I gotta pay attention to the details. Changes in color of the rails, unusual earth formation, something at least giving me a hint that something not natural happened there in the past.

 **. . .**

I walked as far as I could go and took a short break. I just sat there on the tree line and stared at the hill, listening to my surroundings. I didn't feel I was being followed, so that was a good sign. I already covered a lot of ground. I didn't see any people and no trains had passed by. As far as I could tell, I had this entire track of rail to myself.

Until I caught the whiff of a trainer.

The body odor of a pokémon trainer is the scent combination of both human and one or more pokémon. Each scent is unique. Every pokémon trainer has a unique personality and a random set of pokémon. I can't tell what kind of specific pokémon the trainer was carrying, but I can tell it smelled like earth. A ground-type trainer. Not good. Electric-attacks are useless against ground-types. Technically I should be at a disadvantage, but I wasn't, since I don't play by the rules. I picked myself up and stretched my legs. Again, my mama always told me to stay away from humans. But curiosity counteract logic. Besides, I wasn't looking for trouble. I just wanted something to eat, and most pokémon trainers are friendly anyway so I bet they can lend a helping hand.

I crept into the forest and followed the scent. The source was close, and as I got closer I began to pick out details of the scent. The trainer was male, and I think the ground-type was a drilbur and a krokorok. I couldn't pick out any more pokémon, but I can't be sure that was all the trainer had.

I got closer and started smelling a campfire. Good old coal and ash, nice stuff. I thought I smelled potted meat or fried vegetables. Sandwiches are the preferred choice of food for most trainers. Not sure why, maybe they are easy to make and are quite economical.

I kept going until I started seeing smoke, then I heard voices. A human, definitely male, talking to a drilbur. It sounded friendly enough. A pokémon trainer is quite good at figuring out the message he or she is receiving from their pokémon. The subtle cues and gestures are good hints. Emotions are universal. Being a cute and cuddly pokémon, I naturally have a high level of charisma. I wasn't sure how the situation will play out. If the trainer is a natural Unova-born citizen, then chances are he haven't seen a pikachu before and is getting quite a shock, no pun intended. However, if that trainer is Kanto or Sinnoh-born, then he's going to wonder what is a pikachu doing so far from home…

Uh, natural range I mean. Hopefully he wouldn't try to catch me, or be a predator.

I poked my head through the gaps of the bushes. There he was, the trainer, sitting happily by the campfire on top of his sleeping bag. The mole pokémon in question sat beside him. It was a reasonable distance away, not too close or right up at its trainer's side. I'm guessing the drilbur had been in captivity for just a few weeks. First time being with a trainer, I could tell it was born and reared in the wild. The trainer himself wore safety orange and brown cargo pants. His shoes were standard running sneakers, which was a favorite for traveling pokémon trainers. His blueish hair was neatly combed, trimmed down to his ears. His nose was quite flat on his face and his eyes were caramel colored.

And yes, he was eating a sandwich.

I took a deep breath and called out. "Hello, is anyone there?"

The trainer jumped, his neck stiffened. "What? Hello?"

The drilbur was also caught by surprised. I'm guessing the trainer was harmless. Figures. Let humans do all the talking and pokémon do the fighting. What a world we live in.

"I'm coming in," I said. "Just to let you know, didn't wanna sneak up on you like this."

"Uh, okay."

I emerged out of the bushes. Sure enough the trainer's expression showed shock, followed by confusion. I didn't wanna let him take a moment to digest the fact that I was a talking pokémon, so I kept the conversation going. I stayed calm and put on a friendly attitude. Besides, I wanted to meet someone friendly for once, and not somebody who was willing to beat the shit out of me with the end of a baton.

I said, "Hey, man. How's it going?"

The trainer just sat there for a moment, then said, "Well that's unusual."

"Well the railroads are the least traveled routes for travelers, I didn't expect anyone around here until I caught a whiff of your campfire."

"Uh, that's not what I meant."

Oh boy, here we go. "What did you mean?"

The trainer said, "Uh, I never met a talking pokémon before. And I don't even recognize what species you are."

"I'm a traveler. Just like you, I wander."

The trainer unzipped his backpack and pulled out his pokédex. I said, "That's not necessary. I'm a pikachu, the mouse pokémon, and the evolved form of pichu. We pikachus mostly travel alone and we're rarely territorial. If you see a mass group of pikachus, then they are a mass group of individuals. No hierarchy, no kings or queens, just a community living peaceful lives day in and day out."

The trainer put his pokédex back into his bag. "It's nice to meet you, Pikachu. My name's Eric Mason, and this is my buddy, Drilbur."

Now I could simply call myself as "Pikachu", like every bland yellow mouse in the world, or I could use the name Matt had gave me long ago. After considering it for a millisecond, I said, "My name is really Tesla, Tesla Westinghouse. Born and raised in Viridian Forest in the Kanto region. I, uh, later moved into civilization when I reached my twenties. I later became civilized, but I chose to hang onto some of my pokémon roots."

"You have a trainer?" he asked.

"Once, his name was Irvin Westinghouse, and he was a Pokémon Master."

"Oh yeah, I think I've heard of him. He had a gym in Faraday City back in the day."

"Still there, under new ownership now."

Then Eric asked, "Well, how is he? Where is he?"

I said, "Well, I've met him when he was your age. He was very thorough in his teachings. He taught me how to speak, how to read, how to write. Then he taught me higher levels of education. I can do complex arithmetic so well I can do your taxes by hand without a calculator. I was that good. And yes, he also trained me moved, how to battle, and how to fight. Eventually I learned so much that I didn't need a trainer anymore, I was merely his best friend by the time he earned his title, and I stayed by his side till he passed away."

Eric's jaw dropped, "Oh, I'm sorry."

I sat down by the campfire and took off my draw cord bag. "It was a sad ending. None of his pokémon took it well at all. It was too much for all of us. Everything just fell apart and now I don't have much left."

"Well, what are you doing now?"

I said, "Trying not to be caught again. I've met Irvin under dark circumstances and his arrival is a blessing. It's a bit of a story, do you have the time?"

"Oh, yes, I have plenty of time."

I smiled, "Oh good. Say, can you spare me some sandwiches?"

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

We've talked – well, I talked – for the next couple hours. I took a bite of a sandwich in between breaths. I was happy that they were PBJ sandwiches. I have a taste for peanut butter. Sometimes I would eat entire jars of it. I wasn't sure how peanut butter became my favorite food, but I found myself eating it just a week after my thirtieth birthday. I pretty much ate two sandwiches and downed a coke he had cared to offer me, and I kept right on talking. I tried my best to omit as much of the negative and dark details as best I could. I told him I was captured by a criminal organization, didn't say whom. I told him I was passed around through multiple pokémon labs, didn't say how I enjoyed that. I told him that I went around the world with Irvin for twenty to thirty years, I didn't tell him how I "caught" my trainer's pokémon. What I did told him was that Faraday Island didn't wanna give me up, didn't wanna let me go. I had a bounty on me, which was neutralized by Governor Norman's pardon.

"You lived in the wilderness for twenty years on the island?" Eric asked.

"Yes," I said. "Food was scarce, the soil didn't have enough nutrients to grow crops, and some parts of the island is very rocky. I can't go back to my diet of berries I used to eat before, I had to scavenge what I could from the human settlements that were pock-marked all over Faraday Island."

"How did that go?"

"Sometimes successful, sometimes not. I had some brushes with the law, also had some trouble with the locals." Then I said, "Now I know what you're thinking. I could've lived with somebody else. I have a handful of human friends that would take me in. All of them I can trust. But I chose not to, I didn't wanna go back to human captivity. I didn't wanna be treated as a pet or be adored like one. I have a personality, I have my own interests. A lot of these encounters didn't go too well, so they're not worth talking about."

Eric asked, "So was that why you left the island?"

"Pretty much. I was too well known, and I didn't wanna isolate myself from the world. So I left the island, seeking places where I wasn't so well known. Now Irvin was the one who gave me the prestige. I couldn't get that famous all on my own. I had video footage of me, and plenty of home movies archived in their databases that I was going to be remembered in the history books. I bet that Pokémon Academies around the world will teach a lesson or two about Irvin, and maybe bother to mention me."

"You left it all behind."

I said, "Yup, cause that wasn't my success."

I let that thought hang in the air for a moment, then said, "Well, it's nice talking to you. I gotta get going, I gotta be somewhere and it can't wait."

"Why, what happened?"

"An old friend of mine, happens to be Irvin's grandson. He's gotten himself into trouble and I gotta see what it is."

Eric said, "Uh, if you don't mind, can I come with you?"

I glanced at his drilbur for a moment. The mole pokémon hadn't said one word since I arrived. It had those doughy, glistening eyes. The drilbur had sensed my aura, knew who I really was, and it feared me. I didn't feel he was a threat but I can feel he didn't trust me. I turned back to Eric and asked, "What does your drilbur think? It seems kind of shy, might as well leave it up to him."

The mole pokémon blinked, a bit surprised. Eric said, "You wanna tag along with Tesla, Drilbur?"

The drilbur just sat there, mumbling his words. Typical pokémon. Sometimes a pokémon will make a serious decision, and rarely will they flatly refuse, but in this case the drilbur have no idea what kind of answer it should give. It was used to having its trainer make all the decisions, clearly the drilbur hadn't handle a situation like this before.

Finally, after a long minute, the drilbur nodded, _"Yes! Yes, of course!"_

I could tell it never said a single "no" in its life. Figures.

 **. . .**

We were walking along the railroad five minutes later. I talked on and off. We had some moments of conversation and some moments of silence. For a time, the world felt normal. No riots, no anarchy, just normalcy, or whatever sense of what _is_ normal. After about an hour, I got tired of talking about myself and asked Eric about his background, like what did for a living and what he was trying to accomplish.

Turns out he grew up in the suburbs near Straton City, went to the pokémon academy like everyone else. He got his pokémon training license by the age of ten and went on his journey. Eric told me he didn't have many friends, most of the people he knew were around his age. When they got their training licenses, they all left, leaving Eric on his own.

"How are your parents?" I asked.

Eric said, "My mom's okay, and my dad comes and goes. He's some sort of miner. You know, digging up precious minerals to sell."

"What does he bring home?"

"All sorts of goodies. He brings home the most beautiful crystals, like quartz."

"Quartz? Gold is brought up from the earth's crust in quartz. Does he bring some home, by chance?"

"Tiny nuggets, but not very many though. They're rare." Then Eric asked, "What about your parents, how are they? I mean, how were they?"

I said, "We were close, very close. My mama was quite emotional and my dad was lazy. They knew each other from childhood, and so when they matured they got together and started a family. I was their first-born, followed by six siblings."

Eric blinked, "That's a big family."

I smiled, "Mice pokémon are vulnerable. We have to have a lot of children. If our nest was way bigger, my mama would have kept having babies to her heart's content."

"What happened to them, if you mind me asking?"

My smile faltered. "Poachers came in and separated us. It was horrible. None of us were harmed but we all had a mental breakdown, or at least I did."

"I'm sorry."

I said, "Don't worry about it, nothing can be done now. The old sores still hurt, refusing to heal. At least it's all in the past now."

The drilbur walked besides us, staying mostly ahead. He kept his distance from me, _way_ out of arm's reach. I caught him taking a glance at me. I ignored him for a moment, then realized something. "That moment changed me, Eric. Changed my behavior, my attitude, everything. The world just got dark for me. I can tell you that any pokémon, including your drilbur, would look at me and see my aura wielding a sign that warns them to stay away."

Eric thought for a moment, then asked, "Uh, does that hurt in making friends?"

"No, not really. I made a lot of friends. They soften the scars a bit, but only for a short while. Most of them had long past from natural causes. Strange that I've seen most of Irvin's pokémon from pokémon egg to pokémon grave. Entire lives swooping by, just a blink of an eye in my long lifespan. Being old sucks, and it hurts too."

"You're hanging on okay?"

I took a deep breath and sighed, "I hope so."

 **. . .**

We stopped every now and then to take a break. I insisted on an hour of walking and ten minutes of rest in between. When Eric asked why, I told him it was the fastest and most efficient way to travel. Besides, there was no time to wait, no time to stop and smell the roses. We had to get to Dixie before Andy gets himself into more trouble.

The rail curved to the left and right occasionally, but it was mostly straight. I kept thinking in the back of my mind that the URP was following me. Agent Jenny had told me what was going on over at Dixie, I wouldn't be surprised that she was being interrogated by the URP, and I bet Interpol was having a hissy fit on insubordinate law enforcement agencies harassing their assets. I wasn't sure how long Agent Jenny can keep Interpol off my back, but I have no doubt that she couldn't hold them off forever. I didn't tell any of this to Eric, he doesn't need to know all of this. He was just some random guy who wanted to tag along. The URP, maybe Interpol, will shred him apart. Destroy his future, or whatever imaginary life he planned to live. If only he had known what was underneath the blanket of society, seen what I have seen, and know how to avoid it.

Hours went by, each walking period was brief. Each resting period felt like seconds. I was starting to get used to the routine. So was Mason and his drilbur, they didn't seem to notice how time was flying. My internal clock ticked down with the sun. The horizon changed from blue to yellow. We covered what felt like kilometers of walking. My feet were getting sore, we need to stop and rest for the night.

Eric went into the forest and I followed him. We set up camp not too far from a creek. The drilbur gathered up some firewood and dumped out a pile by our base camp and Eric began assembling the fire. I just sat there and watched as he built up a decent teepee campfire. I would have told him to make a fire hole than the conventional campfire. I was being hunted, and regular campfires shine a beacon for miles. A fire hole is basically two holes. One small hole sucks in air to fuel a burning fire inside the bigger hole where it expels heat and exhaust out the top. It burns extremely hot and is a hog on fuel, but it hides its light quite well and doesn't smoke as much. But thankfully Eric chose a well-hidden spot. There was plenty of trees and shrubbery between us and the rail road. We were hidden from any seekers or sentinels coming our way.

Once Mason got his firewood set and pretty, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a zippo. It was a flip-top lighter, painted with in a bright orange matte color. He flipped the lid with his thumb and it opened with a satisfying click, revealing a wind hood and a flint wheel. He flicked the wheel and it generated sparks, igniting a bright flame inside its wind hood. I was curious, it looked familiar. I think I've seen that kind of lighter sold in Faraday Island. The armed forces were issued with olive green matte lighters similar to what Eric had, orange matte lighters are often sought out by the Island's survivalists due to its color. If Eric were to drop it in the dark or in a very leafy forest floor, he would know where it is due to the orange color of the lighter.

I didn't bring attention to it, I kept my peace and watched as Eric light some tinder on fire. He tossed the infant flame into the bundle of his teepee fire pit and pocketed the lighter. He said, "There, that should warm us up."

I said nothing. The drilbur fanned the flames with his paws, then held them up to the fire. Small pokémon like us gets cold easily. It's getting ready to dip below ten degrees Celsius. I scooted up to the fire and held up my hands, I could feel its warming glow comb through my fur. Eric unzipped his backpack and pulled out some bottled water, he handed a bottle to me and said, "Here, you must be thirsty after all that walking."

I said nothing, just giving him a soft nod before taking the bottle. I popped the cap off and drank it down. I didn't feel thirsty, but I don't trust my tongue. Older folks have a hard time gaging their hydration levels. I must be really dehydrated and yet I didn't feel dry. So I drank half the bottle and placed the cap on it.

"I used to go camping under the stars," said Mason. "About four years ago, I went out in a camping trip with my friends and their parents. It was three days full of awesomeness. Lots of woods to explore, a lot of sights to see. Those were really good times."

I said, "I can relate to that. I spent somewhere around, oh, 40 non-consecutive years in the wilderness, before and after Irvin. Though the latter half wasn't as best as your camping trip, I made the best of it."

Eric raised an eyebrow, "Non-consecutive?"

"They're not joined," I said. "Twenty years before Irvin, twenty years after Irvin, with civilization in between."

Eric nodded. "Oh, okay."

I said, "Getting fresh water is always a problem. Microbes like Typhoid and Cholera often lurk the waters, but mostly a bug called Giardia. Believe me, Traveler's Diarrhea is not fun."

"Ouch."

"Especially getting it out here with no immediate help in a thirty kilometer radius."

"Oh, that's bad."

"Bad doesn't even come close."

I stuck my feet out toward the fire, warming my toes. The fire grew larger. The sun had set and now the world was pitch black, save for our campsite's fire. I was tired, I was ready to go to bed. Eric unfolded his sleeping back and spread it out, his drilbur crawled up beside him as he pulled off his socks and shoes. Mason scratched the mole pokémon's back. It let out a yawned and laid down beside him. A soft ember of sadness formed in my chest. I have seen unconditional love play out before and I even felt it myself. But that was a long time ago. Irvin tried to provide such care, but his is different. Maybe it was because of my dislike of his character, being greedy and pulling pranks on people. I did felt unconditional love, the real thing at least, from Ash, when he comforted me from my emotional breakdown that night in the Soho Pokémon Center. I couldn't remember much from that moment. Yes, Ash Ketchum does love pokémon and I can see that, but there was something wrong about the whole system. Soho basically placed a magnifying glass to it, revealing how the world really worked.

But at least the unfair and unequal system isn't always corrupt. I stretched out my legs and laid down on my back. Nothing but tree branches above with sky breaking through, revealing those ancient stars of our common galaxy.

"You sure you won't get cold, Tesla?" Eric asked.

I said, "I don't need as much sleep as I used to, I'll keep the fire going throughout the night. Don't worry about me, I'll manage."

"Okay, goodnight, Tesla."

"Night, Eric."

 **. . .**

I woke up only once throughout the night. The fire was reduced by embers by around two o' clock. I grabbed as much fuel and kindling the drilbur had gathered earlier and thrown it into the fire. I didn't bother setting it up into a teepee shape, just dropped them in a random pile. The campfire smoldered for a moment, then the heat started catching on the kindling. Flames reappeared. I watched it build until the fuel caught ablaze. The campsite became brighter. It didn't bug Mason or his drilbur one bit. They were deep sleepers, that's for sure.

I went up to a nearby tree and, after having a little wee, I crawled back to my usual spot and tried to catch some sleep. I lie there for about five minutes before starting feeling vulnerable. My back was toward the railroad, and a part of me wondered if the URP would come marching in to scoop me up. I stared at the sky for a split second, then turned toward Eric. Without thinking about it, I got up on all fours and crawled between him and the fire. I guess you could say it was my pokémon instincts taking over. I think that was what happened to me that night.

Morning came not too long after. The fire had consumed much of the fuel I had put in, but it was still burning. I was toasty warm, I wanted to sleep more. I started drifting back to a dreamless sleep when Eric started shaking my shoulder. "Hey, Tesla. Wake up, its morning."

My internal clock told me it was seven forty-six. I let out a yawn and sat up. "Ugh, that was . . . uhh…"

"You slept well, Tesla?" Eric asked.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I did."

Eric brought out some sandwiches and handed me one. I took it without question and bit into it. I didn't feel hungry, but I need to eat. I didn't have much meat on my bones at the time. Eric didn't seem to notice. He never had experience with "normal" pikachus, and I was anything but normal.

Mason got his drilbur a bowl of conventional pokémon food. The smell of it offended me. I buried my nose into the sandwich and used it as a makeshift face mask. It sort of worked. I kept eating, trying to pretend I wasn't being bothered.

Once we were done with breakfast, Mason packed up his sleeping bag and snuffed out the fire. The drilbur picked up some charcoal from the fire pit and smothered it into his eating bowl. The drilbur then packed his bowl inside Eric's backpack and zipped it up. Eric latched his sleeping bag underneath his backpack, then put it on. Just before we could get started. I heard the train horn go off in the distance, followed by a rising roar. My eyes went big, it was loud. A part of me was startled. I hadn't heard a train in days, I was just getting used to the silence. Eric and the drilbur just stood there and listened as the passing train shook the earth. The roaring and rumbling subside a moment later.

"They don't come around like they used to," said Eric.

"What?" I asked.

Mason pointed toward the rail road. "The train, they don't come around as they used to. That rail goes mostly in and out of Soho, it's a major port. Trains used run down that rail three times a day, but that changed about a week ago when they stopped coming. Not sure why."

He didn't know what was happening at Soho, maybe he had no connection to the outside world for some time. Of course, trainers are so disconnected from current events while on the move. They only way they learn what had happened is after they return to civilization. Sometimes they would blunder into a situation and be caught in the middle of a conflict, like in Ash's case when he wandered into Soho and was tagged by the local police. I glanced at the drilbur, his eyes didn't seem as fearful as they used to. I wonder what was going on inside his head. What was he thinking, and what was he planning?

"Yeah," I said. "I did notice, never gave much thought about it until now."

Eric said, "Well, we better get going. You know which way you're headed?"

I said, "We continue down the rail until we find something different. I don't know, there's a spot in the rail where we diverge. It should take us to Dixie's backyard, Andy lived around there."

"Okay, what are we looking for?"

"I don't know, some signs of an old train wreck a few decades back. There was a part of the rail line that make a sharp turn, a train derailed around that point. We're going to keep going until we find what is left of the old rail path, then bushwhack from there."

Eric nodded. "Alright, lead the way."

 **. . .**

We resumed course down the rail yard. It was peaceful like yesterday, wasn't sure how long that would last. I wasn't as talkative as before, but Eric felt like telling me more about himself. He started off saying how he woke up one day and thought it was time to go on his journey. I'm sure a lot of trainers had that mindset. Mason thought about it for some time, and eventually decided to go ahead with his plan. That following day his father came home with a present. A poké ball. Inside was the drilbur.

"He's only just a baby," said Eric. "He's barely a year old and he has yet to begin training."

"Training in what?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.

"Pokémon battling, of course. He has yet to face off an opponent in a real gym match."

I snickered.

"What?"

"The first few gym matches will hurt. Believe me, they _will_ hurt. After that they just become routine. But note that every time you bring them onto the field, you risk injuring them in such a way that they may fail to recover. I know, I've been through it all, which is why I'm glad I'm retired."

"How did your pokémon battles go?"

I shrugged, "Feels like I was showing off. Half the time I hate it, and half the time I felt angry. I never lost a single battle, believe it or not. I was too powerful, way too strong for Irvin to control. I had the right of way, not Irvin, and I was very dangerous to whoever was around me."

"Why?"

"I didn't wanna fight, didn't wanna battle. I battled a lot of pokémon in the past and I can safely tell you that a good amount of them never battled again. The trainers didn't think too much about it. Pokémon get hurt all the time. If only they knew the real extent of the damage, it isn't something you'll ever see."

The drilbur discreetly stepped away from me, averting his eyes.

"Did Irvin ever force you to battle?" Eric asked.

"No, he never did. I told you, I have the right of way. If I refuse, I flatly refuse. I would give him a nasty shock just to remind him. Thinking back at it, I'm starting to regret that. I might have contributed to his heart attack. But anyway, I only battle when I felt like it. Usually when I'm pissed, on edge, and I can tell I can win the battle hands down. Sometimes I miscalculated and I have to put in more effort in victory, resulting in broken bones."

I went silent for a moment, then asked Eric, "So how did your parents react when you told them about your plans in going on your journey?"

"They weren't surprised," said Eric. "I was at the right age to start traveling, and it came at the appropriate time, because I got Drilbur that day."

"Ever signed up for the Unova League?"

Eric shook his head. "No, I didn't. I had other plans in mind."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, I guess I could take up mining like my dad. I could earn a lot of money that way."

I said, "Good way to profit, assuming you're not contributing to landscape destruction. The wild pokémon living near your mining operation would never forgive you for that."

"It's going to be deep underground," said Eric. "The surface won't be touched."

Walking took a little longer this time. We stuck to the ten minute resting period for every hour we walked. Eric got out a map and checked the train route. Sure enough Dixie wasn't that far away, but I had no plan of going into town. If the URP had taken over local authority, then I surely do not wanna show my face, and I bet Sheriff Jenny would not be happy to see me if I stroll right in. I gotta find Andy first, or evidence of where he's going. I also wished to track down Ray and Bruiser, see what kind of role they were playing in this mess.

A part of me hoped that my aging child was also safe. He may not even be as old as me, but he never had the technology that kept me going for all these years. His little ticker probably couldn't handle the thought of being evicted from his home, and I don't think the Dixierats will lend support for their former leader. This is something I must handle myself, my son won't let anyone close but me.

Eric and I kept on walking, kept on traveling. We were silent, and the drilbur was still holding his peace. I sniffed the air. The wind wasn't right, I couldn't pick up any Dixierat scent. The tracks curved and twist through the landscape, going with the flow.

Then it made a sudden curve to the right, the gravel changed color as the rail moved away from the original road bed. Eric and I stopped and surveyed the scene.

Sure enough, the original railroad was gone. The gravel bed it used to sit on was still there, covered with grass and weeds. Some tree saplings had sprouted around the old path. Oak and maple covered much of the landscape. I looked toward the new rail, it was like it had forgotten its old route. So I was right on the hunch that the rail had been rerouted, I'm right at the edge of Dixierat territory.

"Now we go bushwhacking," I said.

"You know your way around?" Eric asked.

"Yes, I do. All pokémon know their way around, even foreigners like me."

That statement wasn't really true, but that didn't matter. I was so good at getting lost that I can sprout up in places nobody would ever expect. Stealth was always the key to my survival, if only my fur was fucking green instead of piss yellow I wouldn't have to be on my toes all the time.

We left the railroad and hiked down the old one. We saw signs of nature reclaiming her old territory. Human infrastructure was slowly being erased away by plants and erosion. One day the gravel will be buried and trees will grow in its place, erasing any signs of humanity's dominance here. The curve of the old rail came to an abrupt turn, revealing a little valley. Eric and I stopped again and gazed over the scene before us. Even with the train long gone, the signs of a train accident was still there. The mud was still kicked up and churned. Old rotting logs lay around the rim of the forest, overshadowed by younger trees that took their place. The weather had softened the scars for years but it was still too recent. I held my breath and listened to the silence. I pictured in my mind of a train derailing and my surviving great-grandchildren breaking free from the wreckage. I could even picture my son, grossly injured and covered with blood, being hauled away from the wreckage in search for safety.

I turned and looked up at Eric. "About fifty years ago my trainer brought me to a pokémon breeder in Faraday City. My reputation for my god-like powers was great. Scientists wanted to preserve my genes, trying to make another superpowered pikachu. It was at the breeder where I met the love of my life, Polly. We had a lot of children, and our children had children. Some of those chus were taken to Unova for research and study. Twenty years later, a train was lumbering down these tracks, carrying a few dozen pikachus. One of those pikachus was my son. They were all freed from captivity when the train derailed at this exact spot. No longer at the mercy of their handlers, they got a taste of freedom for the first time in their lives." I gazed back out toward the forest where Dixie was. "This is why Andy was here, he was keeping my relatives safe from the poachers and regional authorities who wish to collect them."

Eric said, "Wow, even after years of weather the place is still trashed."

"Yes, it does." I then added, "I think Andy's secret had been revealed, which is why I'm here. I gotta find out how bad the situation is, I can't imagine what kind of hardship my relatives are going through."

"The police won't let them live here?" Eric asked.

"The mice pokémon are an invasive species, a cancer to the local eco-system. But they have nowhere else to go, nowhere else to live. Its either kicking out the native pokémon that live here or perish."

"Can they just live in peace?"

"That would work if resources aren't being contested."

I could see he was like Ash in some way. He cares for pokémon, yet he doesn't understand the concept of the food web, or even survival of the fittest. Some things are barred from people who believe in certain things.

I took a deep breath and said, "Look, Mason. I'm not sure how to put it, but the best that I can explain is that my family members live on a thin line. They're not wanted here. Their looks and charms can't cover up the pressures they put on the land here. The town of Dixie is already having a hard time with them making a mess of their trash. You'll understand when you see them, they'll try to adore you to death, assuming they're having a good mood at the moment."

Eric thought for a moment, then said, "So what should I do?"

I said, "You turn back now, leave and head to your original destination. This isn't your war to fight. But if you wanna stick to me till I find Andy, then there's something you gotta understand. If we're caught, deny all knowledge of me and say you don't know me. Say you're just passing along, minding your own business and you just stumbled into something. If I get caught and you somehow escape, don't go after me, just leave. This is something I must deal with on my own, there isn't much you can do for me after that point."

I wasn't sure what he was thinking, but I could tell he had a good heart. He stepped away for a moment, considered his options. The drilbur didn't know what to decide. He kept glancing at me, then back at his trainer, as if his fate was being decided. Eric stood there for a good long time, then turned to me and say, "I don't have anything important to do, I guess I'll take the risk and stick with you till the end."

I said, "It's not going to be a walk in the park, Mason."

"I know that, I almost lost my dad in a mining accident. I know how important family is."

 **. . .**

And with that, we started walking through the Dixie forest. Not much had changed since I was last here. Everything was lush and green as I remembered. It was also silent as I remembered. No bugs or bird pokémon were chirping, this place was dead. A sign of a major disturbance, but this one was older. As we continued through the forest, Eric went on to talk about the near-fatal accident his father had. "It happened a year ago," he said. "I noticed he wasn't home by the usual time, and then we got the phone call. We were devastated. The mine shaft where my dad was working collapsed. A support beam failed and boulders crushed him. It took a while to get him out, he was at the hospital by the time we got the call."

"How bad were his injuries?" I asked.

"Several broken ribs and a hip, he was knocked unconscious for a couple days. I was scared, I thought I was going to lose him."

I could see Eric tearing up a bit. I looked away and glanced at his mole pokémon. He just shrugged, he wasn't around during that time. "I had my fair share of hospital stays," I said. "Broken bones, bleeding. I don't know how many close calls I've been through, but each time I've been inside the jaws of death somebody who cared about me was by my side through it all."

"From pokémon battling?"

I shook my head, "No, not just from a nasty pokémon battle. I almost drowned in a river once when I was a pichu. My mama went hysterical and rushed to my aid. She saved my life by doing mouth-to-mouth. That was quite a bonding experience, she almost lost me."

Then Eric asked, "Those bandages you have, they look serious and I could see blood oozing through them. Did something bad happened to you?"

I wished he hadn't asked that question, I didn't know how to respond. I simply said, "I had an old friend who needed help, it didn't end well."

"How is he now?"

"He's gone."

Eric's eyes went big, "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, it's all over now."

We kept on walking. I checked for scent trails. I found none, no mice or otherwise. I was getting worried, had the URP come in and rounded up all the Dixierats? As I was figuring out what might have happened to them, we came across some small hills up ahead. "Wait," I said. "You see it?"

"See what?" Eric asked.

I pointed a finger toward the hills. From the naked eye you couldn't see it, but if you know what you're looking for the holes will be revealed to you. "Mice pokémon nests, roughly a dozen. We've just come across a Dixierat community."

Eric asked, "Dixierats? Is that what you call those pikachus?"

I nodded. "Well, that's what Andy calls them. Some sort of country ring to it, whatever that meant."

I approached one of the nests and poked my head into the burrow. The burrow stank, but it wasn't a fresh smell. They had been gone for some time and hadn't been back since. I checked the other nests. Same case. Eric walked around and inspected each burrow's construction, he said, "They are so well hidden that I couldn't even make out the doorways."

The drilbur poked his head into a random burrow and quickly withdrew, his face turning green as he tried not to puke. _"Uh, that's nasty."_

 _"They tend to fart a lot,"_ I said, _"something having to do with their diets."_

 _"Not pokémon food, of course."_

After Mason got done checking out the burrows, he walked over to me and said, "Is this normal?"

"No," I said. "It's just what I feared, they have been relocated. I'm not sure if the URP had forced them out or Andy somehow moved them, he has a lot of pull with the Dixierats."

"They're his friend?"

"Well the relationship goes back a few generations. You see, Irvin and I didn't bonded like so. It was a contract. The contract states that I was his primary and permanent pokémon. He orders me to get beer, I do get beer. I am forever his pokémon even after he's dead, so he's my one and only trainer."

"And how does this contract work for the Dixierats?"

I said, "Technically a part of Irvin isn't dead, his genes live on in his children and grandchildren. In other words, they take up his role in the contract. Since a part of me live on in the Dixierats, the contract has been transferred down the family tree. Andy, being Irvin's grandson, officially claims ownership of me and my descendants. That's why he has such pull over the Dixierats."

Eric blinked. "A contract, it's not a bond but actually a _contract?"_

"I was never caught inside of a poké ball, so I am officially still a wild pokémon. We did a contract rather than the conventional bond because no poké ball would hold me. And I didn't have much choice at the time, I was imprisoned and have nowhere else to go. Irvin was my only way out."

"Okay, now that's just a lot more confusing?"

I frowned, "What part of the word _contract_ don't you understand?"

"No, not that. You're still a _wild_ pokémon?"

"Always had been, always will be. I was born and raised in the wild, humankind can't change my childhood."

"So why can't you be held in a poké ball?"

I shrugged. "I don't rightly know, something have to do with the circuitry and software of poké balls. Poké balls back then isn't that different from today, so I guessing I had a different polarity compared to more normal pokémon."

Eric paced for a moment, digesting all that information. He stopped and said, "You said that you weren't in sync with Irvin, right?"

"No, I said I am not a mindless personality of him. I didn't always obey his commands, since I have the right of way."

"But that risks breaking your contract."

I shook my head. "The contract cannot be broken no matter what. Irvin needed me and I needed him. He has a lot of pokémon to take care of and he needed somebody to whip them in line. He may own his pokémon but I control them, since I enforce his rules."

"How do you enforce his rules?"

I said nothing.

"Oh, uh I didn't mean to go that far."

I frowned and lowered my head. "I regret it all, and now they're all dead. I know, because I buried them myself. Cycle of life, Eric. Happens to the best of us. I just only wish I wasn't so harsh at them, but at least they all understood me, and so they forgave me."

We stood there for a moment, listening to the silence. The drilbur just stood there, staring at me. Eric just looked off into the forest for a second, then said, "Well, that's-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence when a rifle barked in the distance and his head exploded like a smashed tomato.

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

The late Eric Mason's fresh corpse collapsed on the forest floor. With the shot still ringing in my ears, I made a mad dash for cover. I got as far as I could and jumped into some shrubbery. I looked back. The drilbur just stood there petrified, staring at the body with big eyes. I've seen this before. I once had pokémon trainers try to hunt me down on Faraday Island during my outlaw years. Their thinking goes, "I'm going to catch Tesla Westinghouse and be the coolest kid on the Island!" They don't always come around, but when they do they foolishly gave me plenty of warning. I would turn around after hearing all this noise and there they were. Their pokémon, often an electric-type, was out and ready, posing in that stupid battle stance. I was unimpressed, and since I don't like playing by the rules I built up a charge. Rather than shocking the pokémon, I went for the trainers themselves.

When they go down, one of three things would happen. One is that the pokémon would panic and run, two when they beg for mercy. The third response is that they do nothing. They just stand there in that catatonic state. Assuming they hadn't run away yet, I would wait for a moment to let it sink in and incapacitate the pokémon. I refuse, to this day, say what I did to them, but I'm telling you they never come back for a rematch.

I knew that screaming at the drilbur was useless. The mole pokémon was too deep in shock that the world no longer exists for him. I kept my peace and just watched, waiting for the inevitable.

The second shot rang out, the drilbur took it in the gut. The sheer power of the round it blew out of his back, shredding muscle and bone. The drilbur let out a scream and went down, looks like his moment of shock was over.

The sniper in question came out of hiding. He wore a gillie suit stuffed with natural vegetation. His hands and face was covered in a greenish-brown paint. I couldn't tell if he was local or foreign, but I could tell he was professional. His weapon of choice, a .308 hunting rifle. The entire gun was covered in camouflage paint and brown rags. The gun looked well used and was in good condition. I could make out its scope. It was new, very new, like the sniper bought it only yesterday. It too was also covered up in rags. Each end was covered with a safety cap that looked like it was attached to the scope. Convenient. His hardware was big as it was intimidating. It was the weapon of choice for a creature my size, the weapon of choice for a poacher.

The sniper wrapped the sling around his shoulders and secured the rifle to his back. The drilbur squirm and moaned, placing a hand on the wound in a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding. When the sniper drew near he reached into his coat and whipped out a baton. It extended with a loud click. It was black and much scratched up. I was told that the tip of a metal police baton can split your belly open. I wasn't sure if it was true, especially for a pokémon whose skin is incredibly thicker than a human's.

That didn't seem to matter as the sniper got on top of the drilbur and proceed to beat the shit out of it. The sniper didn't give him a mere love tapping, he was unleashing a full brutal assault. He was fast and consistent. I couldn't see the drilbur's face as the sniper was blocking my view, but I could see his feet kicking like mad. The tip of the baton quickly became red, flinging flecks of blood into the air with each swing. After a full minute the drilbur's feet stopped kicking. The sniper didn't take a chances, he got on his knees and grabbed the dribur's head with both hands, giving it a single, sharp twist that let out a sick _crunk_ sound.

It was all over after that. The sniper then got up and looked around. He was looking for me, no doubt about it. At first I thought he was thinking I had ran off, then he cupped his hands over his mouth. "I know you're out there, Westinghouse!" he called out. "We're coming for you!"

I sat still, staying silent. I was well hidden and I didn't plan on moving. The human eye can detect movement, and movement is all the sniper needs.

He got no response. The bushes around him didn't move save for the faint rustle of wind. The sniper grunted, then bent over and scooped up the drilbur with one hand. Its face was bloody, lifeless, he was long gone. The sniper pulled out a potato sack and stuffed the body inside. He glanced at Eric's cooling corpse for a brief second, then walked off. He just left it there, not even giving any time for emotion.

I waited for five, maybe ten minutes after he was out of earshot, then crawled out of my hiding place. I went up to Eric's body and paused. I had warned him of what would happen, but I didn't expect an ambush. The URP would have made an arrest, and this wasn't the URP. If it were poachers, I didn't think they were the ones that Team Rocket had hired. We drove them out with nothing but the clothes on their back. So who was this guy, and what faction is he associated with? I reached out and checked his pockets and found Mason's orange lighter. It was difficult to open the lighter with one hand, the lighter was almost as wide as my palm. So I used the other hand and pulled the lid open, then spun the striker wheel. The wick ignited and let out a steady burning flame. I closed it up and slipped it into my drawcord bag, then proceed to search the rest of Eric's possessions. "I'm sorry," I said to his corpse. "I'm just sorry."

 **. . .**

I continued on toward Dixie. The forest started becoming familiar. I guessed I had crossed the border between public land and Dixie National Park. With the threat now clear, I had no doubt that humanity had finally driven out the Dixierats. There wasn't anything left of them, no scent or pokémon calls, nothing. Their burrows were empty, vacated with haste. When did this happen? Right after I left, or when I started stirring up things in Fort Wernher? I headed toward Andy's little bunker house, wondering if he was still there. I feared the worst. Among the rest of Irvin's own family, I always liked Andy the best. I first met him when he was in the incubation chamber, just a few days after he was born. He grew up fast and developed his own personality sometime around six years of age. Everyone wondered why I let Andy hold and pet me but no one else. Most people I knew, including Irvin, like to tease me and get under my skin. If I get into a hassle with them, they tend to exaggerate it. I don't know how much anger I had built from it all. Matt comes in to help, but he lacks the energy to do more.

Andy, however, knew my situation well, and he knew me better than I knew myself. When he sees me get into those kinds of hassles, he would come to my aid. I remember that time when Matt's wife had dressed me up in baby clothing after I had a, uh, swim in a full tub laced with nair. Nair is a formula that destroys hair at the base of the root. Some dumbass in the household somehow gotten a hold of nair and added it to the shampoo. I didn't know why it didn't tip me off when there was only one bottle of shampoo in the shower. I think I was tired at the time, and I admit that I had a drink beforehand. Next thing I knew I was washing away my fur and realized too late. So I stopped using the shower and went for the bathtub in a feeble attempt to wash off the nair, what I didn't know is that the soap bar was also laced with nair, including the bubble bath. Low and behold, I was butt-naked from head to toe. Pissed and embarrassed, I was in no shape to plan how I was going to tell Irvin about this.

It just so happened that Matt and his wife were visiting that day, and his wife was the first to find me. First she laughed, and then she was adored. She picked me up and commented how soft my skin was, even when as far as commenting how the tip of my penis was sticking out of its pouch. I didn't say anything because I was at a loss. Mrs. Kissinger brought me into Irvin's bedroom and dug out some old baby clothes. I think they belonged to Matt and Irvin when they were young. Apparently Matt was a big kid then, cause his old baby clothes fit me perfectly.

You have no idea how pissed I was, I never had been that angry before and since. She went as far as taking pictures and pinching my love handles . . . even snuggled me half to death. Matt and Irvin saw it all, they just stepped into the room and just watched. I felt less angry in their presence, but no more embarrassed. I could tell Matt had considered to intervene, but never got around to it. Irvin was no help at all, he just watched and took pictures. Some of Irvin's pokémon, even Nobark, watched from the windows. They were laughing hysterically. Thanks for the help, guys. I really appreciate it. The amount of hurt and betrayal I felt from all the bullshit almost rivaled the loss of my parents.

I didn't know how long it took before Andy popped in and boomed in the most loud and assertive voice, "What are you doing!?"

The laughter outside stopped and the pokémon faces disappeared. Andy marched in and snatched me out of Mrs. Kissinger's hands, and then he marched right outside, hopped into the car, and drove toward Faraday City.

Andy explained that he was just about to use the bathroom when he saw all the yellow hair on the floor of the tub and shower, he figured out what had happened instantly. He knew people were easily adored by me and it didn't take much brains to figure out what was happening in the bedroom. Andy knew then I could talk, he had figured it out one day when he eavesdropped on a conversation I was having with Irvin. I didn't know he knew until we passed the _Welcome to Faraday City_ sign, he said, "I knew you smarter than you look, knew for some time. You can talk like people, I heard your voice. I don't think anybody is going to believe it if I had told them, your secret is safe with me."

I stayed silent until we reached the dormitory buildings near the University of Faraday. These are big and tall glass buildings, and squeezed between them was a public parking garage. Andy was staying there for his Pokémon Medical Doctorate, the best thing about the car park was that only students were allowed inside. So if Matt and Irvin come knocking, they would be turned away by security, and knowing Irvin he will surely stir up a scene and potentially be banned from the property. We slipped in through the car park, found a parking spot, and then we went straight toward his dorm. His roommates took note of me, actually recognized me. He explained the story to them, didn't make any accusations on who did it, besides declaring Irvin let it all happen. I was going to stay there until my fur grew back, which was going to be fast because winter was approaching at the time. Thankfully Andy's dorm was well insulated and I had enough blankets to protect my bare skin. I guess it was thanks for saving his life several years back. By the time we were in his dorm room and protected from the outside world, I merely said, "Thank you, you have no idea how much this means to me."

"I do," he said. "Nobody sees you who you really are, they're too busy cuddling you that they didn't take the time to note your feelings."

He went on to say how the contract I had _signed_ with Irvin also goes on to him. "Irvin won't come looking for us because he knows where we are. He won't pick you up, I have every right to hold you because that contract is passed on to me."

"You knew about the contract?"

"Of course I do, Irvin told me about it. It means a lot to him, so I guess it means a lot to me." Then he added, "One day, Tesla, you won't be under the Island's mercy. It will be the other way around."

"How can you be sure about that?"

I think he knew about the Dixierats at that time, but he didn't bother telling me about it, kept it to himself until I saw them in person. He merely said, "You will know when you hear I am in trouble."

I almost wished Andy was my trainer, my master. The amount of compassion he shared for me was so great that I would have sold him my own soul if he could bring my parents back from the ether. I owe him a great debt, I owe him some more than my life.

Thirty years later, Andy was in trouble and I was trying to figure out what was going on. The nair incident came to mind when I was coming close to Andy's bunker, that was when I realized he had a plan all this time. Probably he was forced to put it into play when he heard about me in Soho. Again, I'm still wasn't sure if it was being kept quiet. If this wasn't on the news, then the Unova government was keeping a lid on this. That might explain the sniper that killed Eric Mason, but the sniper was way too extreme to be a government agent, but there was so much I didn't know about the Unovan government that there was still plenty of room for surprises.

I felt relieved when I saw Andy's house appeared in the middle of the clearing. Everything looked exactly like I had remembered it: Gray and boring. Not sure how Andy could afford to build the small one-story house out of concrete. I'm not even sure if it was really considered to be a house. It had only four rooms packed in the size of a three-car garage. I scanned the rim of the clearing for anyone watching the house. I saw none. I broke into a sprint and ran for the front door.

Police tape covered the door from head to toe, and prominently displayed on its face was a black and white sign. _NOTICE,_ it read in big blocky letters. _This property has been seized by the Unova Police Department. No trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted._

The knob and deadbolt, including their corresponding door, was new. It must have been changed out by the URP. I guess they didn't like Andy's interlocking pin mechanism. I didn't plan on charging the door, I cannot risk giving myself a concussion. So I took a step back and, with all my energy, flipped and swung my tail against the door knob. My tail turned to steel within a millisecond, then made contact a half a second later. The blow was loud and strong. I rolled on the ground and check my handiwork.

The door knob had broken down. I jumped up and jiggled it, the doorknob came apart within seconds. Now it was just the deadbolt. I swung my tail again, unleashed another blow that echoed for kilometers. The deadbolt gave and the door swung open.

I stepped inside and surveyed the house. It had been cleaned out. All of Andy's personal things was gone. All of his medical reference material of mice pokémon was gone. Even the HDTV was gone. Just the shelves, the coffee table, and the sofas were left behind. I checked the kitchen. The tables and chairs were gone and the cabinets were empty. The fridge was still there, but it was cleaned out and not operating. I checked Andy's bedroom, recalling that he carelessly piled a huge amount of shotguns and rifles from countering poaching. They were all gone. The bed was still there but the sheets and pillows were removed. The nightstand was stripped bare, its drawer was empty. The dresser was also empty. I checked the bathroom. The medicine cabinet was empty, the cabinet under the sink was empty. All the shampoo was gone. The only thing that was left behind was a half used roll of toilet paper and a molding plunger.

Nothing told me Andy had either vacated or was arrested, but it was clear he isn't coming back.

 **. . .**

I tried to fix the lock on the door, then gave up after minutes of trying. I changed and redressed my bandages. Since there was no trash can, I was forced to stuff the old bandages in my bag. I didn't want to leave anything behind, in fact I didn't even want to leave a single strand of hair behind. Since the property had been seized, I expected the water line to be cut. Just to be sure I hopped into the sink and placed my mouth underneath the faucet, then turned the cold water on. Some water came up. I drank as much as I could, I was thirsty and had no way to store the water. I would've salvaged Eric's supply of food and water if I had time, but it was way too dangerous. I didn't want to be out there any longer than I need to.

Hours went by, the sun was going down. I was getting hungry. I opened the fridge again and checked its contents. The only thing inside the fridge was an unopened twelve-pack of coke. It was room temperature warm since the fridge was no longer being powered. I began searching the cabinets more thoroughly, hoping something was missed. Not so, all the cabinets and drawers were stripped clean. I was disappointed. I guess I was going hungry tonight.

I sat on the couch and thought for a moment on what I should do. Should I head into town and talk to the Nurse Joy at the pokémon center? Or should I try to locate my remaining dumb relatives? The forest was barren of any pokémon and there were hunters combing the place for Dixierats. I doubt I would find any fellow chus out there. The town may sound more promising, but I bet the whole town was under Martial law. I'm not sure how the Nurse Joy would help me besides restocking my supplies and give me comfort. I bet she was _persuaded_ into turning in any Dixierat that come her way. I wondered which pokémon center in Unova wasn't barred from me. It almost felt like humanity just stopped caring about pokémon altogether.

I noticed the sun had went down, I laid down and stretched out on my back. I didn't fell asleep right away. I pictured in my mind of Eric Mason's corpse, now cold and stiff still lying out there in the woods. The drilbur's body was probably butchered for his hide and flesh. Sad for how things turned out. The thought of the threat outside kept me on edge for most of the night. It was a feeling I hadn't felt since my outlaw days in Faraday Island, except this time I was indoors, and this time I wasn't alone in this mess.

 **. . .**

That thought was proven true when the front door opened.

I snapped awake when I heard the broken doorknob clattered against the concrete floor. My heart felt like it exploded. I shot up, clenching my fist while building up a charge. At first I stayed quiet, I wasn't willing to give away my position. I planned on sneaking out after the intruder had moved away from the door. What I didn't expect was hearing a familiar voice. "Tesla," he said. "Are you really here?"

I knew that voice by heart. My caution dropped as I poke my head over the couch, my eyes went big.

It was Rayovac, the rikachu monstrosity. He had his puppy dog smile on as his girth almost filled up the doorway, with the faint light of the rising sun shining down on his back. Beside him was Bruiser, his raichu cousin. Sitting on Bruiser's head was the elder Dixierat, my son. His one eye was big, wide with surprise.

I noticed many things at once. First off my son had lost a lot of weight and is bony, and his hair was falling off. Bruiser wasn't so happy, he had dried tears crusted around his eyes. Ray was just like I always remembered. The big lug of a goofball. Nothing special. It was what he had by his side that almost made me shit myself. "Volta!?"

The last I had saw her she had evolved and was being carried away by Cabot during his last hour of life. I felt a mixture of guilt and glee, and some surprise. I recalled that Volta had some muscle on her, or at least she was that lean during our time in traveling. She had put on weight, a lot of it. Volta had built up quite a pot belly, making her look like a fluff ball. Volta still wore her pink handkerchief that Ash's pikachu had given her. She wore it around her neck in a boy scout manner, just as how she wore it when we last saw each other. I took a moment to let that thought short-circuit through my brain, then I leaped off the couch.

We wrapped our arms around each other, our eyes filling with tears of joy. "Tesla!" she cried. Her voice sounded a bit off since I last heard it. Then again, the last time I heard it she had whispered into my ear. It was the first time where I heard it in full volume. "Tesla, it's really you!"

I broke down, almost sobbing out my words. "I'm sorry, I didn't know Cabot would get shot up like that! I looked everywhere for you! You have no idea how much deep shit I went through to find you!" I buried my face into her flush fur, my hands finding their way around her newly formed love handles. "I'm so sorry that I put you through that! I didn't know that was a lie, I swear!"

She didn't bark or get upset. Volta took her hand and held my chin up, our eyes meeting. "Don't worry about it, I would trade a safe and comfortable life with a trainer just to be with you."

I felt myself going slack. I knew that rationale all too well. I would've traded all the accomplishments and knowledge I had built up in my life just to be with my parents and siblings again.

I wasn't willing to let go, so Ray scooped me up with his one arm and slapped me against his chest. "We're reunited!" he cried.

I squeezed my and barked. "Damn it, Ray! That's not how you hug!" I groaned, took a deep breath and calmed down. "But it's great to see you again."

"I knew it was you when I caught your scent," he said. "You smelled like you were in distress, so we hurried to find you."

He dropped me on the ground and Bruiser let down my son. The elder Dixierat hobbled on his crippled arms and legs and buried his face against my stomach. I wrapped my arms around his frail frame. "I had a moment where I wished to see you again, I was worried about you."

 _"Same for me,"_ he said in pokémon speech. His head lowered and I felt his body going slack. Something was wrong. I helped him up and carried some of his weight. He was lighter than I had remembered. Had he been wasting away? And for how long?

Bruiser said, "We weren't doing so well, something happened and Andy had to get the Dixierats to mobilize. The chaos that happened when the police showed up was a nightmare. It was all too much for our uncle to handle."

My son's one eye drooped and he fell into a sleep-like trance. I helped him up and handed him to Bruiser. "I think I know what the problem is, but I hope it's not. But I don't know if I could deny it."

"You know what's going on with him?"

I didn't respond, I just stood there and let it all sink in. Volta took my arm and checked my bandages, she said, "What happened to you? You have more bandages on you than the last time I saw you."

I didn't know how well-connected they were to the outside world, but I'm guessing they're going to find out what happened in Soho. "I have a lot of explaining to do and I don't want you guys to hear it any other way, cause you're going to be hearing this from other people for a while."

 **. . .**

They got settled in within five minutes. I showed them the stashed coke pack in the fridge. Even though the fridge was no longer powered and the coke piss-warm, they drank almost all the cans it had. Ray and Volta were enthusiastic about it, but Bruiser and my son showed little snuggled up beside me as we sat on the old couches. She got under my arm, pressing her face against my armpit. She was just like the Volta I had remembered when she was a pichu. The elder Dixierat didn't have the strength to pull himself up on the sofa, so I got down and helped him up. He didn't say anything, his exhausted state was worrying me. I got back up on the sofa and he quietly rubbed his head against my side, and Volta rested her head on the other.

I had Volta look at me and I told her what happened after I lost her. I told her that I had found out who did it, and I told her who made it happen. I told her about Nobark and his Pokémon Resistance Army. I told her about what they were doing for the past fifteen years.

"Who's Smugleaf?" she asked.

"A deceptive servant," I said. "She's a nymphomaniac and a killer, but deep down she's quite sweet and kind."

"What pokémon is she?"

"Snivy, grass snake pokémon."

Ray said, "We have our fair share of sex addicts these days, probably a leftover habit from our lab days."

"How is it a leftover?" I asked.

"Well, the scientists need a lot of pokémon and they don't want a lot of hassle."

Bruiser said, "Sometimes they will coax you, sometimes they will assist you. I know, I've been through it all. Couldn't say I enjoyed it, it was way too frequent for me and I didn't like being handled like that. I don't miss it one bit."

"If it wasn't for pokémon breeders, none of you guys would have existed."

The raichu looked up at me and said, "Makes me wonder if my purpose in life is to make more relatives, or to be experimented on. I was lucky I avoided the drug testing, Ray is not so fortunate."

Ray nudged him hard with his bicep. "It didn't turn out so bad, B."

Bruiser glared at him. "Every time they brought you back in your cage, you were so doped up on experimental drugs that you shat yourself! I had to spend an entire night smelling your filth!"

Ray just shrugged, "Odd, I couldn't remember that. In fact, I don't remember much being in those cages. We were so young back then, living comfortably, a far cry from what's going on now."

Bruiser said nothing.

I said, "Nobark tried to create a system, more like recreating a system, where all pokémon could live freely without the hand of humanity for its own purposes. He tried, and failed. I think you're being indirectly affected by him due to his close ties to Irvin, which in turn has close ties to Andy."

Ray said, "You talked about Nobark, your best-friend as you call him, a lot the last time you were here. You too were close?"

"Close enough to support the other, but no longer possible once Irvin had passed."

"So how is he now?"

I said, "He's being returned home by Mark Kissinger to his final resting place."

Ray blinked. "Uh, what?"

"He's dead."

"What happened?" Bruiser asked.

I said, "Police cornered him, he had no way out. I didn't want him to die by the wrath of mankind. So this is what I did. I barrowed a revolver from someone and confronted him, and after we said our goodbyes I shot him dead."

A moment of silence.

"Shot him six times," I said. "Practically emptied the gun on him. I made sure he was extra dead by firing a round into his neck. He died in a pool of his own blood."

Volta looked at me, her eyes filled with shock.

Bruiser said, "You killed your best friend?"

"He was a goner, and he needed somebody he could trust. He asked me to do it before-hand. He had dissociative personality disorder, which is having more than one unique personality. Nobark was losing control, he was finished. I was the one of a mere few from our heyday who still cared about him, it had to be done."

Volta took my hand and asked, "So who shot you?"

"A mad personality of Nobark who managed to take over. But I can tell you that the real Nobark had no intentions of harming me, and so I forgave him. I didn't want him to leave this world knowing he harmed the closest friend he ever had. I let him passed knowing that I was there for him in the end."

We went silent for a second time, then Ray asked, "You okay?"

I said, "No, all my friends from my old life are gone. Most of them had completed their lifecycles, while the rest were interrupted. Not too long after Nobark and his PRA was dealt with, I was soon picked up by the police. Not on Soho's terms, no, its' police department let me go. It was the URP who had picked me up, they took me to a cell and told me I was being charged for capital murder."

"Who, because of Nobark?"

I shot a look at Ray. "No, Ray. I killed a city government official. The police chief of Soho, who was a corrupt bastard under Team Rocket's payroll. I don't understand why or how they managed the system, but I didn't care. I was finished. I thought I had nothing left in the world until I was told you guys were in trouble. The next thing I knew I was accidentally freed when all of Soho was being attacked by anarchists."

Bruiser asked, "So what happened to the PRA?"

"I technically took over what was left and sent them to Faraday Island, including Wotter and Smugleaf." I turned to Volta and wrapped an arm around her neck. "I couldn't bring myself to hate those two. Smugleaf's trainer was brutally killed and eaten by a wild pokémon, Wotter's trainer simply turned on him. The two were denied a life we are all trying to fight for. I punished them enough, so I gave them a third chance on life by sending them to Faraday Island, who won't mind having her carrying a knife on her back."

"Third chance?" Volta asked.

"Nobark gave them the second chance, and that crumbled. So I gave them a third chance, I hope it works out well for them."

I went silent for a moment, then turned to Volta. "So what happened to you after that night, where were you while I was trying to track you down?"

Volta said, "I thought I was being followed, and I thought that they would attack you if I head back to the hotel. So I left Vegas City and found my own way back to Dixie. I had considered turning back several times because I missed you and I had no clue what I was doing. But realizing you don't stay in one place too long, I gave up on that idea and returned to Dixie."

I said, "I stayed at Vegas City for another week to recover, if you have returned you would have found me back at the pokémon center. But good thing you hadn't, police activity was stepped up and any pokémon caught wondering the streets were taken into custody. I left Vegas City and never went back."

Bruiser said, "When she first showed up we had trouble recognizing her. We didn't know what to think when she told us what had happened. We all knew it was her, but not from her scent. She still had your scent, and a little bit of Ash's scent as well. I guess you found a way to evolve her."

"Not really, that just happened at random chance."

"It was during the heat of battle against Cabot's emolga."

I said, "I know, but figuring out how pokémon evolve is a mystery. By the way, Volta. I found Cabot's emolga with Nobark, Smugleaf and Wotter had brought him into their commune after Vegas City. Wotter turned him into a punching bag while Smugleaf kind of forgotten about him. I didn't pay attention to him much, it was a mess. Somehow Ash got himself captured by Nobark and Mark had the wits to get himself caught as well. Everybody was there for different reasons, I had to fist-fight a psychotic Nobark just to get them out."

"What happened to Cabot's emolga?" Volta asked.

"Heart attack," I said. "He was wielding a superweapon that was developed by Team Rocket. The only problem was that it was my gun and it was tuned for me. The voltage put a great strain on his nervous system, which was already at disarray from the chaos that was going on around him. Eventually his ticker couldn't take it anymore and he dropped. I think his body has been cremated and dumped in the garbage after the second Battle of Soho. Poor thing didn't deserve that fate, but at least he isn't suffering anymore."

I said to Volta, "Now can you stop pulling me off track and explain what you have been doing?"

Volta said, "I stayed with Andy for the most part, he was busy with something so I didn't get to see him much. I mostly hang around Bruiser and Ray for the most part. The town was generous in donating food scraps to us. There was so much pasta, cheese, and all sorts of cooked meat that Ray had to carry me back to Andy's house on some nights."

I reached down and grabbed Volta by the gut. "That explains this right here."

She giggled and tried to push me away, I kept on tickling her until she rolled onto her back. "How long did it take you to put on that weight?" I asked.

"Two weeks," she said. "A lot of the Dixierats here were attracted to me after that."

I raised an eyebrow. "Did any of them tried to mount you?"

"No, they know I wasn't available so they didn't bother trying."

I looked up and notice Bruiser was staring at the floor, getting ready to cry. "So how did everything started falling apart?"

Ray said, "Unova Regional Police came in and took over the town. The charter was revoked and Sheriff Jenny was imprisoned. Andy had some warning, I'm not sure how. He tasked us to gather up all the Dixierats we could find and send them to a port city called Kochi, he told us he has a ship there waiting for us. It's called the _Experiment,_ he didn't say where it was going but we were told he was taking the Dixierats to a safer place."

I blinked. A ship? Is Andy packing the Dixierats into a ship and sending them somewhere? What is happening?

Bruiser finally looked up and said, "We ran into trouble two days after that, I was rounding up what was left of our family group. My brother, Volta's father, had never recovered. Pika was depressed for a long time, and for some strange reason he never let Volta near him."

"He ignored me for the most part," said Volta, "saying I looked like my mom."

"He never left his old nest," Bruiser said. "We were heading over there to see him when the shooting started."

"URP," said Ray. "Well, most of them. Some of them were hunters, I could tell since they only used .308s. The URP were using 7.62mm hunting rifles and .12-gauge tactical shotguns, they were more powerful and they caught us off-guard."

I said, "That might have explained the poacher I crossed with earlier who knew my surname."

"They know who they're dealing with," said Bruiser. "And they were taking no chances. I argued with my brother to get out of his hole and he refused, so Ray reached in and pulled him out. The next thing I knew we were running for safety, then a .308 barked."

The raichu covered his eyes and sobbed. "They killed Pika, shot him through the heart. They killed my brother!"

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

I watched as Bruiser cracked and fell apart, tears running down his face like rain. He dropped on his back and cried hard. Volta's eyes went big, looking at me as if I could help him. I had seen so many pokémon break down from enormous stress that I could predict what would happen. There was a chance his sorrow could turn into rage. I know, I've been through the grieving process before. Ray just looked on like he had seen this before. He must be used to seeing Bruiser distraught. The mutant mouse pokémon turned to me and I nudged my head toward Bruiser. Ray reached out with his one arm and scratched Bruiser's back. It did no good, the raichu just swat his hand away like it was a bug.

So I got down from the couch and crawled up to Bruiser. I reached out and massaged his yellow cheek with my thumb. "Bruiser, listen to me now."

Bruiser stopped crying and looked at me, his black marble eyes overflowing with tears.

"I've met a handful of raichus before, most of them weren't that nice. I had a brother of mine who was beaten up by such a bully, and I had battled another sometime around my early Westinghouse days. I always thought that raichus are mean sons of bitches that always demand power." I sat beside Bruiser and scratched the side of his white belly. "I did some research, picked apart textbooks about raichus. The more I learned about them, the more I began to realize that . . . they couldn't handle the power they had. Sometimes they were exiled by their lesser brethren because they were too strong for them to handle. I even dug up cases where raichus were demonized, fearing rape and oppression."

Bruiser stopped whimpering, I looked at him in the eye and said, "You are the first raichu I have ever met who wasn't trying to be aggressive. Your name is just an irony. You never wanted to hurt anybody, you just wanted to be their friend. I saw that in you when we first met. None of us here want you to change because of that. You're not a bully, nor are you selfish. If you're brother had any thoughts that you may be a scumbag, you proved that wrong when you tried to save him. He died knowing you were there for him in the end. I only wish my own brothers and sisters knew what really happened to me, I have no doubt they had passed knowing I was lost forever."

I looked away and glanced at my son. He fell asleep, resting on his side with his face tucked under his arm. "I know what's happening to your uncle here. He's dying. I've seen how death rows work and there's no stopping it once it starts."

Volta asked, "He was perfectly fine days ago, how is he dying?"

The youngster had no concept of death from old age, "His body is clogged up with waste and dormant cells. Those cells can no longer perform their function because they no longer have any suitable DNA to replicate, and the telomeres of his remaining cells could no longer hold them in place. This is why we all break down, and I know how to cure it."

"How?" Ray asked.

"Pull his blood out and attach artificial antibodies with iron to the useless cells, then take an electromagnet and strip them from the blood before putting it back in. The antibodies will also take care of all the waste that his system couldn't get rid of, so the healthy cells have room to grow." I got down and went up to the elder Dixierat and took his hand. "I bet all the cells in his system can be traced back to two or three of the original stem cells. He will need to receive a fresh set from a donor. Somebody that is really young, maybe not even hatched from their egg yet."

"Will it work?" Ray asked.

I shot a look at Ray. "It works, how do you think I'm still here?"

Bruiser sat up and stretched his legs, he wiped away his excess tears and asked, "So if there's a cure, where can we find it?"

"Faraday City."

 **. . .**

We were on the move ten minutes later. Ray and Bruiser were a little hesitant on leaving Andy's old home, as they had made a lot of memories here. But it was time to move on. No longer welcomed in Dixie National Park and its corresponding town, the Dixierats have to find another place to live. We made our way toward the main rail line. Once there, we steered clear from the town. Dixie itself was almost barren of any life. A couple of pedestrians but nothing else. It looked cleaner than I had remembered, and newer somehow.

I asked, "What's the state of the police presence in Dixie?"

"Still low as ever," said Ray, "but ever since the URP came in and asserted their authority it became more hostile to us."

"Their pokémon center is closed," said Bruiser. "Nurse Joy and her audinos were reassigned elsewhere."

Ray nodded. "Aye, nothing left for us now. I don't even smell food from the town anymore."

I asked, "So when does the _Experiment_ disembark from Kochi?"

"A day or two," said Bruiser. "Andy won't let it leave without us but he can't wait forever, the suspicion over his head is great and we don't want to give him any more trouble."

"You're going to hang on in there, Bruiser?"

"I will, Tesla. I'm just worried about Uncle, I don't know how much time he has left."

The elder Dixierat rode on Ray's back, propped up by his nephew's neck. Ray walked on his stubby arm while keeping his longer one tucked by his side. I wondered if walking on three limbs is uncomfortable for him, but it didn't seem to bother him. Volta kept a steady pace, showing no signs of exhaustion. She was on all fours, her gut hanging a fingertip away from the ground. As we left Dixie behind, we came across the welcome sign that stood not far down the track. The imprint I left behind after my stupid drunken leap of faith was still there, it hadn't been fixed yet.

Ray looked up and saw the imprint. "You said you made that, Tes?"

"Uh, yeah. I did, I don't remember much about it now."

Volta turned and looked at me. "You hadn't been drinking at all, haven't you?"

The last time she caught me drinking, she threw a fit. I recalled that moment after Nobark and I got back after we raided Springfield. The PRA was celebrating and we had booze out the wazoo. "Well," I tried to explain. Realizing I had no valid argument, I merely said, "I didn't drank until I was shitfaced."

She head-butted my side for that, I reached out and pinched her love handles again. Volta squirmed, backing away out of my reach. "Don't do that!" she cried.

"But you're so cuddly," I said.

She glared at me for a moment, then lowered her eyes. Volta stood up on her hind legs and hugged me. "I had trouble sleeping on some nights," she said. "You just weren't there, even with Ray around I still felt . . . insecure, I think that's the word."

Ray said, "She screamed in her sleep one time, took an hour to calm her down."

Volta said, "You have no idea how glad I am to see you again, I thought you were gone forever."

"I do, Volta," I said. "I was feeling the same thing."

I heard Bruiser sigh. I turned to him, he looked up at the sky and said, "You know, to come to think of it I kind of wanted to know what all those chems feel like."

"What chems?" I asked.

"The chems I used to have," said Ray. "The first time felt orgasmic, then the next dozen or so just gives you a minor buzz. Withdraw sucks, but I can live without it."

"Never seen Ray angry nor scared," said Bruiser. "He's always happy, no matter how the situation turns out."

"I did feel down when you lost your brother."

Bruiser glanced at him. "Well, at least you know how to control your emotions."

"Takes years to master," I said. "Takes decades to sharpen, gets easier with age."

"You know, Tes. You don't seem so angry now, you're not frustrated or grumpy or feeling down."

"Had been for a while. Let's just say that I had finally gotten over it after Soho."

We heard the blast of a train horn coming behind us and dashed for cover. The train arrived by the time we were in the bushes. It was loud as it was vicious. The ground shook so hard that my son's one eye snapped open, he tumbled down from Ray's back and started screaming. I leaped to his side and grabbed him, I held his ears close until his screams overcame the train's roar.

"It's gone, son," I said. "The train is gone."

The elder Dixierat sobbed. _"No trains! No trains!"_

He breathed hard for a moment, then started going limp. I carried him back to Ray and sat mounted him on his back. "Gotta be from the train accident," I thought aloud. "Poor thing."

I patted him on the back until the elder Dixierat calmed down. Once his breathing was steady I asked in pokémon speech, _"You're okay?"_

The elder Dixierat shook his head. _"I don't know. I don't feel hungry or thirsty. I couldn't remember when the last time I peed."_

 _"Are you constipated?"_

 _"Maybe, I hadn't pooped in three days."_

"Best to assume he hadn't," said Ray. "We should get him prunes or something."

"And how are we going to do that?" Bruiser asked. "We walk into any town and we'll be back in a cage in no time!"

I asked, "Does Andy know about this?"

"No," said Volta. "This is just recent, like we said he was fine just days ago."

My son said, _"I don't know what happened, I just woke up one day feeling something was wrong. We were out in the wilderness, hiding from poachers. I was looking to Ray for comfort when I collapsed, I didn't know how long I was out."_

"Two hours," said Volta.

I said, "Well, let's get a move on. I don't wanna keep Andy waiting."

 **. . .**

We stuck to the walking schedule similar to how I walked with the late Eric Mason. We walked for fifty minutes, then rested for ten. Time flew fast and eventually the sky got dark again. No train hadn't roared passed us for the rest of the day, which made it easy on the elder's nerves. My mind went blank for most of the time. I didn't really talk much, but Volta and Ray were quite chatty. Bruiser and I just lumbered along, half bored and depressed. Eventually we had small talk when the sky started turning orange. I wasn't sure about him, but I felt we have something in common. We both lost brothers and we both were kicked out of our own homes. Our lives were dramatically changed from poachers, and our families were displaced as so. He didn't admit it at the time, but I could tell in his eyes that he was recovering.

I asked him, "You ever thought of doing something, like taking up a cause?"

Bruiser shrugged, "Getting our family out of danger."

"No, that cause is because of circumstances. I'm asking if you had ever thought of taking up a cause on your own terms."

The raichu thought for a moment. "I spent the first ten years of my life undergoing experiments and testing. Every time I thought back to those days, I wondered if that was my purpose in life. Experimenting, testing things, for the greater good."

Ray added, "I was brought into the world because the scientists wanted a powerful chu, much like you, Tes. I say they succeeded, so I guess my life had been fulfilled somehow."

I asked, "Ray, you're deformed and have schizophrenia, how can you be sure it was a success?"

Ray isn't offended so easily, I don't think he is ever offended. He merely shrugged his shoulders and said, "Remember when we first met that you pumped enough electricity in me to wipe out a small army?"

"Yes, I do. I was fatigued because of that."

"I took it all without a scratch, if you were to do that on anyone else they would have been harmed to a degree. I can handle electricity like a rechargeable battery, and discharge it much like you can."

"Close enough, as your saying."

"Yeah, close enough to a master at electricity."

Master of Electricity, such a title I had earned a long time ago. No use for it now. I had taken up a cause to crush Team Rocket, or the bad parts that screwed me over. The more I pursued the goal, the more I realized that it wasn't worth it to pursue. I took down an HQ a couple of times, probably by sheer luck, since I never thought it was possible. I freed all those captured pokémon, but how were they going to live normal lives? Humanity has betrayed them, they were exposed to the fact that they were being used by humans. They threatened the integrity of the system with that thought, and so the blanket of society cast them out. Those who managed to make their way into the hands of good people never fully recovered. A part of them forever destroyed, I think that it eats into the minds of some. I heard of pokémon going mad and attacking people at random, usually because something was bothering them. I occasionally heard of a case where a pokémon with festering scars attacked their trainer and proceed to cause all sorts of destruction. None of them could match Nobark though, he took the concept of rebellion to the extreme and repeated humanity's mistakes.

So what are we, the pocket monsters, missing? What does humanity have that we don't?

When the sun went down, we find a little hideaway to set up camp. Bruiser gathered up as much firewood as he could. I built up a small tinder bundle and took out Mason's windproof lighter out of my drawcord bag. That got everybody's attention as I sparked the lighter and set the tinder bundle on fire.

"What is that?" Ray asked.

"Windproof lighter," I said.

"Where did you get it?" Bruiser asked.

I let the tinder bundle burn for a moment before adding it to Bruiser's firewood pile. "I scavenged for it. I didn't wanna exhausted my electricity reserves so I got a hold of a lighter. The last owner originally bought it for this purpose, let's not get into how I got it from him."

I closed up the lighter and dropped it back into the drawcord sack. The fire grew until the firewood was burning. Bruiser added a little more wood to the fire, I felt its heat against my face. "I used to spend winters by sleeping through it," I said. "I don't hibernate anymore when I went under Irvin's care. During my outlaw years I had to keep a roaring fire going every night in winter, because if the fire goes out I may not wake up the next morning."

Bruiser laid down and stared up at the sky. "Ever so true, hypothermia can be a major problem."

I think that made us scooted closer to the fire. I stared at the glowing ashes as it build under the burning firewood. My parents were sometimes hesitant about fires. They never told me why, or gave me an answer that made any sense. I wandered if they had went through a forest fire during their youth, cause they made sure the area was clear of all flammable material every time we were to start a small campfire. I never gave much thought of fires, I do know they burn and consume almost anything in existence. I just never seen how bad a forest fire was until later on in life, when one day I decided to research the topic in Irvin's old encyclopedias.

Fire is warming for the most part, but it can only be warming for so long. The night got really cold, so we started loading the fire with whatever burnable fuel we could find. We built the fire slightly taller and made it wider, forming a crude oval shape. We put our backs to a tree and all huddled as a group and watched as the fire slowly consumed the added material. Next thing we knew we had a raging campfire on our hands. Ah, it was such a pleasure to burn.

"Oooh," said Ray. "That's bright!"

I said, "That should last until sunrise, we should get some sleep as we still can."

Ray and Bruiser were on the outside of the pile, and my son, Volta and I were in the middle. I made sure the elder Dixierat got the very middle because I was concerned about his frail body. He didn't have as much meat on his bones as he used to. I was afraid he would freeze to death. Volta was a bit upset that she wouldn't sleep by my side, so Ray decided to sleep by her. I had Bruiser to my back and my son in my arms, and that was how we spent the night.

 **. . .**

The fire was reduced to embers by morning, but it was still hot. I woke up and found that we had been moving around in our sleep throughout the night. Ray and Bruiser were on their backs and had moved away from us. I was still holding onto my son, sort of. I noticed he feels a little cold. I got worried, I quickly checked his airway and his breathing. His airway was clear and he still had breath, but his pulse was low. I checked his circulation, his legs were cold to the touch, especially his feet. The fire wasn't warming him as it should. I checked for a pulse by his feet and could feel any. I nudged him up and dragged him toward the burning embers. I stirred him awake in the process and he started to squeal.

 _"Shhh,"_ I whispered into his ear. _"Go back to sleep, son. Everything's fine."_

His one eye half-opened, looked around for a moment, and then closed again.

I laid him down in the casualty position and made sure his airway was still clear, then moved his feet toward the fire. Volta was laying on her back, half-snoring with drool bubbling from her mouth. I crawled over to her and smiled, she felt quite warm from the fire. Her extremities were warm to the touch, I think she slept well last night. I scratched her belly and she stirred, I laid down beside her and wrapped my arms around her. I whispered into her ear, "You awake?"

"Ugh," she muttered.

"I guess you're quite deep sleeper."

Volta cracked a smile and buried her face against my shoulder. She was awake, I gave the others a hour or two until the sun comes up, then get everybody moving again. I didn't need to wait that long. After thirty minutes, Ray was wide awake. He just sat up, let out a yawn, and his eyes were full of energy. No drowsiness or fatigue, he was ready to go. Bruiser however, needed a little encouragement, so Ray started pouncing on him without warning. I quickly sprang on my feet when I heard Bruiser barked, "Damn it, Ray! Why!?"

"It's morning," he says. "Come on, let's get moving!"

The elder Dixierat didn't seem to mind Ray scooping him up and plopping him on his back. My son grabbed onto his fur with his arthritic hands and hanged on. I didn't bother arguing with him for sleeping for another few minutes, his mind was set. I got up and started spreading out the ashes of the fire with a stick, I got out all the still burning wood when a stream of urine started pouring over the hot coals.

"Ahh," said Ray as he sprayed his peeper all over the fire.

I noticed his urine was a dark yellow, I said, "Ray, are you feeling okay? Are you thirsty?"

"I'm fine," he said. "Actually I feel fine, I see what you mean. There's a nearby town where we could stop and get a drink."

"My mouth is feeling dry," said Bruiser as he approached the fire. Like Ray, he popped out his penis and peed into the fire without discretion. I just looked away. I wasn't going to argue about dignity and matters with Bruiser. He's grumpy and isn't thinking straight since he was rudely woken from his sleep, so I left him at be. "Yeah, definitely dry. We need to stop somewhere and get something to eat, and I am not going to go drinking out a fucking pond."

I watched Volta went to the fire pit and knew what she was going to do, since she's female she turned around and squatted. I grimaced, here I stand with my relatives as I watch them urinate into a fire to put it out. Clouds of steam and smoke was billowing out of the hot coals and the air smelled like burning paint thinner. I waited until everyone was done before I checked the fire to see it was out. Yeah, it was out alright. Fucking idiots I call relatives.

"You need to use the bathroom, Tesla?" Ray asked with no regard.

I glanced at my son hanging on to Ray's back, he was half-aware of his surroundings and looked sicker than before. I didn't wanna stay here any longer, so I said, "No, I don't. Let's get moving."

 **. . .**

Ray told me a story how he had wondered out of Dixie for a short time five years back. He said it was against the advice of Sheriff Jenny at the time, but he went along with the idea anyway. He went down the rail and found a few towns before heading back after sunset. He led the way toward this town. We didn't have to walk for long. The roofs of houses started cropping over the tree canopy, further down the rail was the corresponding station. Ray veered off the open rail path and dove into the forest. He led us around the town and made our way to the back. There weren't any fences blocking our way, we walked into the town and found ourselves in somebody's back yard.

Ray said, "So, I did good?"

"Perhaps you did," I said. "But what are we looking for?"

The houses were so close together that it was no wonder they didn't have any fences. Ray crept up to a garden house that was mounted to the side of the building. He unscrewed it from the faucet, before turning it on, then placed his mouth under it. I set my internal clock and timed him. Ray was 1.2 meters tall and weighing around 50 kilograms, a giant around mice pokémon standards. It took him a damn long time before he let go of the faucet and stepped back. Ray then set the elder Dixierat down and held him to the running garden faucet. He merely licked the stream as it poured by his mouth. Ray held him in place until he stopped drinking, then carried him away. "It's all yours," he said.

Bruiser went up first, drinking almost as much as Ray. He turned off the faucet and stepped away, panting. Volta went next, she reached up and turned the faucet on and drank until her belly is full. I think she drank until max capacity, cause when she turned off the faucet she stepped away looking queasy.

"You're alright?" I asked.

"I'm just not used to this."

She didn't know what her limit was, I guess she had found out. Volta stepped away and sat down and I went up for a drink. I didn't waste any time. I was told by my mama that when getting a drink, you must drink enough water until you're pissing clear. So I drank until I felt I had enough, then shut off the faucet and screwed the hose back on. We walked back into the forest where we found a spot that was out of sight of the town, then took a moment to rest to give the water we drank a chance to work its way through our systems. Volta crept up beside me and rested against my side. She took my hand, pressing her nose against my armpit and proceed to sniff it. I had some thoughts on how she felt about me. Since she likes the smell of my scent, I guess she really liked me. A part of me, however, didn't want to know how much she liked me. At first I found it strange, until I recalled the night where Volta stopped me from drinking.

I filed the thought away and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. I thought about what I could talk to her about. I didn't wanted to say anything about her father, because that was a sensitive issue, especially for Bruiser who was quite hurt from his passing. I glanced at the raichu and found him sleeping against the trunk of a tree. Ray had my son in his arms, grooming his fur while occasionally checking on Bruiser. Suddenly Ray asked, "Hey, Tesla. How much did things change over the years?"

Now that was a question I could answer, I said, "A lot. Infrastructure was slowly changed from concrete to glass. Technology got smaller, packing more processing power. One thing I did notice was every year, humanity encroaches on pokémon land. I heard a lot of stories where environmental disasters and construction projects displaced pokémon residing in the area. That wasn't the case when I was growing up, it's much like Dixie, except more isolated and rural."

"No towns like this one?" he asked.

"Oh there were towns, but they were small and only had a few dozen people. I always wondered as a young pichu how they built their houses. That thought came around when I was in my forties, Irvin took me to a library and I researched the subject."

"What did you find?"

"Sophistication," I said. "Humans build their houses with sophistication. They take the wood from the forests and process them into boards of various measurements, they dig metal from the ground and use that for various buildings and wickets. I uncovered blueprints to prominent skyscrapers and popular home designs. They told me what bolt and nail I should use, what wire for the MIG welders, and what glue for door frames. I asked myself why we pokémon, as a species, don't build our homes like that. How much mental capacity does it take to pick up a rock and hammer a stake into the ground?"

Bruiser said, "Andy built the bunker himself, he said that every Faradian must know a thing or two about construction. Not sure why he built it out of concrete and steel, but it served its purpose."

I got up and stretched my legs, flexing my joints. "I feel like eating something, in fact I hadn't eaten anything in the past three days. We gotta get some food guys."

Ray sat the elder Dixierat down and stood up. "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it."

"How?" I asked.

"Wait here."

Before I could object, Ray took off back into the town. I didn't follow him, he was a big chu and I didn't have the energy to stop him. He disappeared through the bushes and was gone. I stared at where he once was, fuming. Okay then, sure. Why not we let him do his own thing? Ray is smart and literate, surely he can discreetly pull this off.

 **. . .**

I gave him five minutes for him to come back, he didn't. After ten, still gone. Fifteen, nothing. The look on Bruiser and Volta's faces were getting more worrisome. I was getting more impatient. Whatever Ray had in mind, he was taking his damn time doing it. I imagined him getting caught and was sealed in a cage somewhere and we have to go rescue him, I pictured me breaking his bonds and proceed to bitch slap him for being an idiot. In fact, forgive my language, I thought about ripping off his fucking huge dick and beat him shitless with it for fucking peeing in the fucking fire earlier. I didn't know why I was still mad at him for seeing his peeper out of its pouch. I didn't even know why I was still thinking about it. That has got nothing to do for Ray to go running off and leaving us here to wait for him.

The twenty minute mark passed before I heard a window smashed. I cringed when I heard a burglar alarm went off. Next thing I knew I heard a loud _ZAP_ and the alarm was silence. A human started screaming, someone's dog pokémon started barking. Before I got to the point where I thought about getting up to investigate, the mutant mouse pokémon returned. My eyes went big, ears bellowing steam. He had a huge sack slung over his back. Black garbage bag, the kind people use for public trash cans. I didn't ask what was inside, we didn't have time. He got everyone up off their asses, screaming. "Come on, lets go! We don't have much time!"

"Ray," I barked, "what did you fucking do!?"

He didn't answer, he just took off. I glanced at Bruiser and Volta, they just looked at me and shrugged. The raichu scooped up the elder Dixierat and we were off, running as fast as our stubby feet could take us.

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8_

I don't know how far we ran, but at least we were heading south down the rail. Ray slowed down and eventually stopped at a small clearing. I took a moment to catch my breath, then said, "What was all that for, Ray!?"

"The people here don't lock their doors," he said. "So I let myself in and proceeded to grab all the food I could from their pantries."

"That's not the right thing to do."

"Hey, what's mine is yours and yours is mine. It's the Dixierat motto."

I said, "This isn't Dixie anymore, Dixie is dead and everyone we knew is either dead or unable to help us. That is one fucking risk you took, just why did you broke some windows anyway?"

"Distraction."

"Distraction!? Ray, you don't need a distraction, you don't need to announce the whole neighborhood that you're intruding onto somebody's property! I had lost cousins and an uncle from being caught by the fucking owners! You wanna upset all of us here for getting yourself killed!?"

Ray didn't answer right away, he sat down the sack and sighed. "I'm late in my forties, I'm approaching that infamous fifty year mark. I just wanted some excitement in my life. My brothers and sisters – well, more like half-brothers and half-sisters – aren't expected to live that long because our DNA is so strained that it might self-destruct. I don't know how they are doing ever since we got out. All I do know is that my own mother had passed away just weeks before I was shipped out in that fateful train ride."

I said, "I'm sorry."

Ray sat down and rested his back against a tree. "She's actually your daughter, Tesla. Poor thing was strained from cross-breeding. I didn't know her much because I was kept away from her, I only knew she was gone because our uncle here broke the news."

I glanced at the elder Dixierat, he had fallen asleep in Bruiser's lap. The raichu didn't seem so pleased himself, but his eyes was filled with concern.

"Ray," I said. "Sorry for me yelling at you earlier, you should have at least brought one of us along to cover your back. I broke into houses before, I know the risks and, as I said before, had lost relatives from such raids. That's why I got so charged up from you jumping the gun."

Again, Ray was a big rikachu, taller and heavier than Bruiser. I didn't tell him I had some form of inferiority complex because of his size. I think he had figured it out but was keeping it to himself, so I didn't bother asking. Volta got up and opened up the bag. Ray merely got some canned goods, cereal boxes, candy bars, and some bottled water. He even picked up a can opener along the way, I guess the previous owners wouldn't miss it. I guess I was the only one who could hurt Ray's feelings. He had lost his appetite and hadn't touched the food he collected. The mutant mouse pokémon sat there as we picked through his loot. I found a jar of peanut butter inside the bag, along with a plastic spoon.

I loved peanut butter, developed a taste for it a long time ago. Couldn't get enough of the stuff, even though it nearly clogged up my plumbing a few times. I stared at the peanut butter jar for a moment, now I was starting to feel guilty about me yelling at him. I walked up to Ray and sat beside him. "Despite all that. Thank you, Ray, for getting all this for us."

He cracked a smile and, with his good arm, scooped me up and hugged me. Ray had serious muscle in that arm, he squeezed me so hard that I could have had a back injury. Luckily his gut, having been built from years of gluttony, had enough give in it to cushion me. I didn't say anything, I just dropped the peanut butter jar on the ground and returned his hug, even though I had trouble breathing.

 **. . .**

Once we were finished eating, we were on the move again. To Kochi, this port city that supposed to have the _Experiment_ at its dock. No one knew if it was a ship or a boat, but it had to be big. How was Andy going to fit a few hundred mice pokémon inside? As we got further down the rail, I started hearing the sounds of the ocean. That sounded encouraging until I remembered I was not a swimmer. Ray and Bruiser knew all too well that I couldn't swim, because Andy announced that fact while he was giving a group of Dixierats a bath in a kiddie pool. No one brought it up, which was somehow surprising to me. I was used to their teasing, I guess they decided I had enough.

When we felt we were getting close to the city, we started climbing a small cliff. I don't know why humans like to build their damn towns underneath cliffs and overhangs. Tourism is a possibility, I do recall several movies where the director had filmed scenes overlooking cities. They just fill in the background. They had no aura, nothing mystifying. Just bullshit.

Kochi was different, because I was there to see it with my own eyes. We all got up on the highest cliff we could find and stood at awe at the port city below us. It wasn't like Soho where that port city is dead. Kochi was full of life. Free market enterprises lined the main streets, warehouses skimmed the side of the docks. I did not see a single boat, only ships were docked at its port.

And they were _huge,_ like massive. They were superstructures, massive cargo ships that span the length of airport runways and taller than most apartment buildings. I couldn't tell which ship was the _Experiment,_ my eyes weren't as sharp as they used to and the painted names and serial numbers on the bow were too small for me to see.

"We have to get in closer," I said. "One of those ships is holding the Dixierats, right?"

"In secret," said Ray. "Andy is stashing them in freight containers beforehand, all pre-drilled with air holes and fitted with food and water. Not sure how many freight containers are holding chus, apparently Andy got enough set up beforehand to hold a dozen at a time, possibly more."

"Does he know the captain?"

"I think he's a guy who owed Andy a few favors."

"He might get fired for this, so whatever Andy had offered him it had to be big."

We all climbed back down the cliff and made our way toward the ocean. It wasn't as deep as Soho's borders, there was a beach spanning the rim of the coast.

The beach was far from being deserted. Kids were playing at the edge of the ocean, adults were sunbathing under the sun, and either of the two were surfing the waves with skill and perfection. I always hated the open water and always hated beaches, nothing but sunburn and sand rash. Trust me, you don't want to get sand in places where your skin folds on itself. My younger relatives viewed it differently though. They never had seen a beach before, nor the ocean. These chus from the sticks couldn't be more awestruck. If human civilization wasn't enough to touch them, then a beach bordering an ocean will.

"It's so beautiful," said Volta.

"It goes on for kilometers," said Ray.

I said nothing.

They gawked for five minutes before Bruiser started nudging them along. "As much as I like to stare at a beach, we gotta keep moving. There will be enough open water once we start sailing."

"Those ships are probably diesel-powered, B," I said. "They aren't wind-powered."

Bruiser asked, "You been in the open waters before, right? How did it go?"

I said nothing.

"Was it bad?"

"To me only, but not for others. My advice is not to look down or stare at a wall or floor while the ship is moving, I hope Andy has ginger ale packed away, and Dramamine."

We made our way through the woods, keeping the ocean to our right. I had concern about the local humans and pokémon spotting us. Around 60% of humankind lives by the ocean, which makes the coastlines highly populated. The risk of capture just got higher, which is something I don't want happening this close to freedom. The last thing I need is drama happening, I will dread the day people would make a movie about my experience and throw in a shit load of drama and high cliché scenes into it. Pure bullshit.

The beach changed over to urban sprawl, now the capture risk has reached maximum level. There were people all over the streets, walking to and from stores and markets. I know those people and the pokémon who serve them are nice, but there's going to be a bad apple in the mix, and I wonder if they had been watching the news. Just how Andy got truckloads of Dixierats through Kochi is beyond me, but I couldn't rely on him to hide all of them. I had to assume a few might have been discovered and were caught, prompting the local police to issue a BOLO alert for Dixierats. I'm guessing the URP is also called in for support, maybe they were a step ahead of us and we were walking into a trap.

"I hope Andy has money packed away to bribe the local cops," I said. "No way could he hide all the Dixierats."

"Many have to make the journey on foot," said Bruiser. "Like us."

"So we gotta be careful and not attract attention," I said.

Slipping into Kochi was the easy part, navigating the city without being spotted was not. The back alleys were our only hope in getting through Kochi, but the layout of its road networks made things difficult. The city was divided up to square sections, these square sections acted like islands. If we get caught in these islands, we would be trapped until someone notices us, maybe even sic the police on our tails. Ray had no plans on winging it this time. He stayed by our side, by mine particularly. I think that guilt was still hanging over him. He was bred by humans to serve, so I think loyalty was important to him. I wasn't sure how we were going to be discreet with having Ray around. He was barely recognizable as a pokémon, doubled by the fact that mice pokémon weren't native here. I have no idea how anyone would react when they see his large girth. Would they run or would they figure out he wasn't a threat.

The only way I see how we could get through Kochi without being spotted is to go underground. We navigated one of the many alleyways and I found a manhole to the sewers below. That idea was gone as fast as it came because of two things. One, my son was in no shape to go tunneling underground. His immune system was compromised and I'm not risking him getting pneumonia. Two, Ray was too fat to fit through the manhole. His girth would plug up the hole and he would be stuck, and we couldn't afford the time to get him unstuck. I don't wanna leave anyone behind, we gotta all go together.

So how am I going to do this, how are _we_ going to do this?

"Tes," said Bruiser. "We're walking in circles, how are we going to get to the docks without being spotted?"

I said, "Anyone have any ideas?"

Before anyone could ask, a window in the nearby street shattered. The humans at the street started to panic. Our heads turned when we heard the familiar chirping of fellow pikachus. We all rushed to the edge of the alleyway and saw Dixierats pouring out of a restaurant. People were panicking, trying to get out of the Dixierat's way as they dashed in random directions. I stood there in disbelief, I hoped this moment was the last time I ever saw stupid shit in Unova.

"An infestation," said Ray. "I guess they were hungry."

"They're always hungry," said Bruiser. "You in particular as well."

I said, "Fuck it, we'll make a run for it. Volta, get on Ray's back. Ray, you may need to drop that sack if this is going to work."

Ray was reluctant, but he obeyed. He tossed the sack of food into a nearby dumpster and Volta got on his back, then I followed suit. Ray got on his stubby paw and tucked his long arm to his chest. "Now sprint, boy!"

He took off with breakneck speed. I held Volta down as I hanged onto his fur. We dashed across the street and made it to the next alleyway in seconds. I glanced at Bruiser, he was following along. The elder Dixierat's one eye was wide open, he hanged on as best he could as Bruiser tried to keep up with Ray. The commotion behind us starting to spread out toward the center of town. I looked back and saw some Dixierats were following us. Their big marble eyes were locked onto me, I think they were happy to see me again.

I said, "We got company, some of ours!"

"Should we have them tag along with us!?" Ray asked.

"What are you mean tagging along with us, we're all heading to the same ship! They'll find their own way, we don't need to wait for them!"

Police sirens were going off. I heard the familiar rumble of an Officer Jenny's motorcycle. I don't think she's willing to use lethal force, but I doubt she was willing to help us. Volta hanged on with dear life, I got on top of her and held her tighter to Ray. The mutant mouse pokémon kept a steady but fast pace, constantly checking behind him to see how we were doing. Bruiser shot ahead and I saw the elder Dixierat was losing his grip. Before I could call out to Bruiser to warn him about it, one of the Dixierats following us jumped on his back and held my son down. I breathed a sigh of relief.

 **. . .**

Getting to the docks was straight forward from there, the final task was finding the correct ship. Ray, Bruiser and I were the only chus who are literate so we performed the task of checking the lettering on the sides of ships. Flags from multiple regions flew above individual ships. Some were from Kanto, Sinnoh, Kalos, I wasn't sure if they were used for ownership or region of registration. At first I thought it didn't matter, until my eye caught a glimpse of one particular flag.

It was the _Experiment,_ Andy's ship, and the flag flying above its highest point was the purple Faradian flag. It was actually a black silhouette of me being dawned on the flag. The flag of Faraday Island. I can imagine its representative in the General Assembly slamming his fist on the table, screaming, "Damn it, let's put Tesla on our national flag because he is popular and shit!" and the government complied. Ugh, I always hated that flag, hated being the mascot of the _de facto_ nation. I'm guessing Andy had the idea of hoisting the flag to signal the Dixierats and I, but there was still a chance that the ship is indeed owned or registered by Faraday. The only way to tell is check its serial number on the database, but since that was beyond our means at the moment we have to confirm its origins using a different method.

I tapped Ray's head and said, "Look, it's the _Experiment!_ "

"I see it," said Ray. "We're going to hide in the freight containers of the ship, he had a particular one set up for us. He told us the freight container was purple, and marked with the numbers 110805."

"Andy's instructions, right?"

"Correct."

I said, "Well, let's get on board before we're spotted by the ports security."

"Security," Bruiser asked. "There's no security here besides a few overweight rent-a-cops and security cameras, and all of them were taken care of."

I shot a look at Bruiser.

"This is what Andy told me, I'm not making these up."

"Of course, where else would you get the term _rent-a-cop_?"

Bruiser said nothing, so we moved down the port and made our way to the massive freight ship. Docking rams were pushed up against the sides, we quickly made our way up the ramps and board the main deck.

Huge freight containers tower over us, stacked roughly five times. I hope our container is on the main deck, because I am sure as fuck not climbing that high, especially over the dreaded ocean. I spotted a few workers inspecting the cargo for any signs of tampering. Not very much security here, but there had to be someone around to watch the goods. I had Ray scout ahead and sniff for other Dixierats. I wasn't sure how they were getting into the shipping containers without destroying the tags, in fact I wasn't sure which container had Dixierats. As we were checking cargo containers, I also kept an eye out for the ship's origins. A thought was stirring in my mind and I had mixed feelings about it. If Andy managed to hoist the Faraday flag as a sign for the Dixierats to follow, then that is one thing. But if the flag is being legally flown, then that means this ship's homeport could be at Faraday Island. I wasn't sure which of the two was true, but I was growing more certain that Andy was planning to take the Dixierats to Faraday Island.

As we navigate the maze of freight containers, several of the Dixierats changed direction and rushed into multiple freight containers. I watched with the corner of my eye as their buddies were letting them inside. It was so subtle and quick that it was like they had disappeared. The few that remained stayed close to us, their eyes glued to Ray and Bruiser's exposed assholes. It didn't take long for us to find our container. It was purple as Ray had said, and the serial number was 110805. I wondered if that had any meaning or not, but I felt it wasn't printed at random.

Bruiser grabbed the latch and got the door open, he pulled it open a crack and let everyone in, and then Ray followed suit. The freight container was dark save for several air holes cut into the frame. They were the size of a pokédollar coin and were evenly spaced around the two sides of the container. When Bruiser pulled the door shut, the Dixierat who kept the elder on his back dropped down.

My son merely tumbled off his back and collapse.

"Shit," said Bruiser, "are you okay?"

No response.

"Tesla!" he cried. "Help!"

There wasn't much I could do, but I acted like there was hope. I rushed up to the elder Dixie and held his head up. I checked his pulse. It's weak, but it was there. I cradled him in my arms and checked his breathing, shallow at best. "Guys, give me space!"

The Dixierats around me got back, then the elder's one good eye fluttered open. _"Talk to me, son,"_ I said in pokémon speech. _"Please talk to me!"_

 _"I'm tired,"_ he said, his voice weak and shallow. _"Do we have to do more running?"_

 _"No, we're on the ship. Just one more hurdle to go, but that's on Andy's part now."_

The elder Dixierat looked at me, barely able to see me in the darkness. A bright light came on and snuffed it out. I looked up. Ray had turned on an electric camping lantern, he held up his one good arm and gave me a thumb's up.

My son looked around and was horrified to see the iron walls, I said, _"We're not on a train, son. We're on a ship."_

My son calmed down. _"I've never been on a ship before."_

I turned back to Ray and asked, "Ray, what's our inventory?"

He checked through all the supplies in the back. "We have some comfort food, plenty of water. Also a little camping toilet to poo in. And we have some blankets."

"Fold the thickest one we have and make a makeshift cot, we need to get your uncle here something to lay on."

Ray pulled out a thick blanket from the box and spread it out, the Dixerats helped spread it out and fold it into a neat fluffy rectangle. I carried the elder Dixierat and lain him on his back. The elder gave out a relaxing sigh and closed his eye. _"Thank you, can I rest now?"_

I said, _"Yes, but we're going to check on you every few minutes."_

The elder Dixierat nodded, then rolled onto his side and rested.

"Hey, Tesla," said Bruiser. "You better look at this."

I walked over to Bruiser, he was looking up at something on the freight container wall. It was a map. I knew that map by heart. It was the boundary of Faraday Island, issued by the Faradian Department of Defense. My silhouette was adorned at the corner. It was a tactical map, it had the names of cities, the major roads, topographical lines, and waterways. Nothing on it told me Andy's plan, but it confirmed one thing. We were going to the Island, away from Unova.

 **. . .**

The ship stayed docked for the rest of the day, Ray said it was going to sail first thing in the morning. I asked him what he meant by that. "Midnight," he said. "We're setting sail around midnight."

I didn't bother to remind the _Experiment_ wasn't wind-powered. That dumbshit might've first heard about classic pirate ships and the garbage that comes with it. I got out another blanket and laid it out on the cold bumpy floor, then sat there. I always hated meditating for some irrational reason, but I do it nonetheless. It helps my blood pressure and reduces stress. The Dixierats didn't talk, no conversations were being made. Everyone held their peace, staying silent. Waiting, for something to happen. When my internal clock read ten in the evening, Ray killed the lantern and the freight container went black.

Two hours later, we were stirred awake by the groaning of the ship. We heard faint human voices shouting orders and giving tasks. The faint whine of the diesel generators – probably bio-diesel generators, since fossil fuels is banned on Faraday Island – stirred awake, I heard their roar grew louder every second. If I remembered correctly, and I can't say if this is true for all ships, the cargo ship has four turbines bolted to the bottom of the hull. They could spin 360 degrees, enabling the ship to move freely around the water. The dynamos and gears that run it must be so complicated that it signifies Faradian ingenuity. That theory was confirmed when I felt the ship started moving starboard, then reorient itself to where the bow is facing away from shore, before the turbines spun to travel speed.

"Goodbye, Unova," I said to no one in particular. "And fuck you."

That cracked a few laughs from the Dixierats, then we went to sleep.

 **. . .**

I awoke to the sound of some Dixierats moaning. I didn't feel so well, my stomach wanted to do somersaults and my skull was squeezing my brain. Volta was right beside me. I could tell in the darkness of her plush body and pink handerchief. Her arms were wrapped around me and her head was buried into my armpit. I smelled her fur, it was cool to the touch and her scent smelled oddly wonderful. I reached up and felt the fabric of her handkerchief. Rough, yet strong. I stared at her for a few seconds, feeling at peace. I had no idea how long I had worried about her, and here she was, back into my company, having forgiven me from the hardship I had put her through.

 _"Oh my belly!"_ A Dixierat squealed, breaking the spell. The next thing I knew was the mouse pokémon puking last night's dinner.

Ray had the lamp on just in time to reveal the Dixierat over the portable toilet. I grimaced and watched as it puked until it was shitfaced, then fell backwards, its feet kicking up to the ceiling. One of its Dixierat buddies dragged the pikachu away, then sank its face into the portable toilet's bowl.

Everyone showed signs of sea-sickness. Bruiser sat up, his face turning green. He leaned against the wall of the freight container and mumbled pokémon speech under his breath. My son's condition was no better, he just lay on his back, staring at the ceiling moaning. Ray was the only one here who was perfectly fine. No nausea or headaches, the rikachu just sat there and watched over his subordinates. I swore he was trying his best not to laugh.

Volta's eyes fluttered open and made a face. "Tes," she said, her voice sounding weak. "I don't feel so good."

I had her lay on her back, keeping her head facing the ceiling. "You're not the only one around here who's feeling sea sick," I said. "I'm not faring better myself."

Volta asked, "Why is this happening?"

Ray answered that question, his voice filled with pride. "We're in motion. Our bodies are actually moving but our eyes are telling us we're stationary, it causes an ailment similar to food poisoning."

Bruiser groaned, he grabbed his stomach and turned over onto his side.

I looked at Volta and her eyes to mine. "Volta," I said. "Don't puke, we don't have much water nor sanitary space. Can you keep it down?"

The mouse pokémon squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't know, I never felt sick before."

I pressed my hands over her belly and rubbed it. She felt ticklish at first, then relaxed. I couldn't help but notice how much belly fat she had stored. No matter how hard I pressed, I couldn't feel the abdominal muscles underneath. I was disgusted, but a part of me wasn't. My nerves calmed down to a point where I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time. Something similar to love, but somewhat related.

I asked, "How much did you eat back at Dixie?"

"I started off small," said Volta. "But the food was so good. I don't know what gotten over me, all those restaurants had wonderful food scraps and the local people were more than generous enough to share. I didn't realize how soft I was getting until you noted it."

I cupped my hands into her belly and pulled up a blob of soft flesh. She giggled and tried to swat my hands away. "Feeling better now?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Much better."

I laid down beside her and we hugged for a moment, then a thought came to my mind. "Volta, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Remember that night where you went hysterical after catching me drinking?"

Volta looked up at the ceiling. "Oh, I'm still upset about that. The thought comes up on occasion."

"You said I was missing something, what did you mean by that?"

It was funny. She sat there for a good long while, her face blushing red. I always suspected her obsession with me was stronger than it appears. Sure enough, Volta was hiding something, and she sure as fuck didn't plan on me asking. It was like that night again, except the tables were turned and a great lack of drama. I had an idea what it was, but I do not wish to prove it. I recalled from my early Westinghouse years of studying general psychology of something that is called the "Oedipus complex". Not sure who named it, but from what those old textbooks told me is that a child has repressed sexual feelings to the opposite parent. The theory was proven total horse shit, in humans at least. Pokémon, however, is a different story. While incest between humans is unheard of, it was fairly common in pokémon. I know by experience that my own mama had, uh, helped me sleep at night by giving my siblings and I blow jobs. Male or female, it didn't matter. I think I can apply the Oedipus complex in Volta's case, but I'm not going to press her on the issue. If she has romantic feelings for me, then fine, I can live with that. We're pokémon, we can do whatever we want.

I have no intentions on convincing her otherwise, because another thought came to mind, something that will haunt my family and I for generations to come. If the Oedipus complex is true for pokémon, then how many cases were going on among the Dixierats? How high was the level of inbreeding going on among my family? I glanced at Ray, who was a prime example of such inbreeding. He just sat there, leaning against the container wall and snoozing away. Ray was getting old, I wonder how stable his genes were. He said he was sterile, but for how long? Since birth, or when he turned into a rikachu? He won't say. I got a feeling he won't be the only rikachu among us if inbreeding keeps up. But I don't know how things will play after the Dixierats moved into a new home.

I turned back to Volta and scratched her head. "Don't worry about it, Volta. If it is what I think it is, then don't worry about it. What matters is that we found each other and we have our relatives to worry about now."

Volta smiled and pressed her face against my chest, I patted her on the head and stood up. "Speaking of relatives."

I crawled over to the elder Dixierat, I wasn't sure how well is he fairing. I scooped him up and held up his head, his one eye opened, I wonder if he could still see at all. _"How are you doing, buddy?"_ I asked.

He wheezed, taking a deep breath and said, _"I can't hang on anymore, Dad. I'm out of time."_

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9_

I pulled him up to my lap and cradled his head. He nestled his cheek into my chest, adjusting himself to get comfortable. My son then looked at me and said with his dying breath, _"We've all heard about you, Mama told me and my brothers and sisters about your legends. We all wondered who you really were since Mama was constantly saying she missed you."_

I said nothing.

A tear trailed down his one eye. _"I was already hurt when they sent me away, I was already missing Mama. I didn't know how I survived that crash, my cage did no good in protecting me. I can still remember the rusty metal cutting into my bones, sheering away the flesh of my body. I was a bloody mess, but I made it, since I knew how to bandage myself. It was hard to patch up my wounds with one hand, but I managed. I've been in pain for years, decades. I lost all hope on life, I was just waiting to die."_

I said nothing.

The elder Dixierat managed a smile, the last smile I will ever see him make. I reached out and stroke his cheek, he reached out with his one hand and touched mine. _"But when I first saw you, met you. I knew who you were. Mama always says you wore goggles. Your voice had strength, I could feel the power underneath your skin. It didn't change anything, but it made my last few days bearable. I'm glad you here with me, I'm sorry you have to watch this happen to me."_

 _"There's still hope,"_ I said. _"Faraday Island will restore your system, even give you prosthetic limbs. But the chances are slim, I'm not going to lie to you but I don't think you're going to make it to the Faraday City Pokémon Hospital, regardless of how fast this damn ship is going. But the question is, do you want that? Do you want to get your lifespan doubled? Just look what happened to me."_

 _"I've outlived my usefulness, I don't have your knowledge so I can't play any role in Dixierat society. But thank you for the offer."_ The elder Dixierat lowered his hand and said, _"Knowing Andy, he's going to shove my corpse into the freezer and then dissect me. The Dixierats will probably try to eat me when they get the chance."_

 _"That won't happen,"_ I said. _"I'll bury you myself, I always took good care of my friends despite the hardship we faced."_

 _"If you can make it happen, then thank you . . . I love you, Dad."_

 _"I love you too, son."_

My child's one eye drooped and he dozed off. I pulled it closed with two fingers and said, _"Rest now, son. I got you."_

The elder Dixierat said, _"I know you do."_

 **. . .**

Can't say exactly what time when he passed, but I noticed he had stopped breathing around noon. I panicked. I know, it was a bit amateur of me, but he was my son. I didn't try to shock him to restart his heart or give him mouth-to-mouth. His body had gone cold and his muscles were stiffening from rigor mortis. I never had anyone died in my arms since my own grandmother had passed away in my old childhood burrow. That familiar, yet unfamiliar transition between life and death sent a shock through my system. Here I was, still warm and breathing, looking down at the lifeless husk of my own child. My own son. Old and new wounds all over my body started flaring, my osteoarthritis adding fuel to the flames. I pressed my head against his cheek and broke down into tears.

"Tesla," said Ray. "What's wrong?"

I sobbed, "He's gone, your uncle is gone."

I had tuned out the drone of my relatives chattering. I didn't noticed they were really talking at all until they stopped. The whole freight container went silent. I just sat there, whimpering, letting out my mournful cries for all to see. Volta crawled up by my side, checked my son's pulse. I didn't look at her, I didn't want to see her sad. I bet she was remembering my mental breakdown that night. I mourned our loss for a good twenty minutes before crying myself to sleep.

When I woke up, my own body felt cold. My late son's corpse was sucking the heat out of me. I couldn't hang on to him anymore. I sat him aside, got up and stretched my aging limbs. I looked around the room, there wasn't much conversation. Much of the Dixierat's nausea was forgotten. They were now huddling around each other, holding their peace. Volta was still by my side, she hadn't moved much. She was lying on her back, trying to nap.

"Ray," I said.

Rayovac was lying against the wall of the freight container, sleeping. He stirred upon hearing his voice and asked, "Yes, Tesla?"

"You got a trash bag among that gear?"

He checked our supplies. "Yup, here's one."

"Help me stuff our elder Dixierat here inside it, then wrap him with a thin blanket. We're not leaving him behind in this ship, we're taking him with us till we get him a final resting place."

Ray opened up the bag and we stuck my late son's body inside. I knotted up the bag and Ray pulled out a thin sky-blue blanket. He handed the blanket to me and I carefully bundled the blanket around him. I held onto his body for a moment, then placed it in the corner of the freight container.

"You okay, Tes?" Ray asked.

I said nothing.

Volta sat up and scratched my back, I let her scratched it for a moment before turning around and hugged her. We then let go and I turned to Bruiser, "You have a moment, B?"

"Yeah," he said. "I do."

"Come with me, I wanna speak to you in private."

I got up and walked up to the door, I unlatched it and cracked it open. Bright sunlight shined through, my eyes burned as I stuck my head out into the salty crisp air. I couldn't see anyone on the deck, I didn't see anyone at all. I pushed the door open and stepped out. Bruiser followed me behind and shut the freight door behind him. We stepped away from the freight container and walked down the small aisle, the ocean rushing passed us as the _Experiment_ sailed toward Faraday Island. Once I felt we were far enough away from the container, I turned around and faced Bruiser. "I suppose you know my pain. You don't know yourself and you just lost your brother. Correct?"

Bruiser nodded. "Yes."

"It all feels sore?"

"Yes, it does."

"Can you explain to me how it feels?"

Bruiser thought for a moment. "It's like a piece of my soul was ripped out of me, and whatever's inside is oozing out."

I nodded. "Like you, I was way different from before. A true wild pikachu. What you see before you had been reshaped by Irvin, and that history is fading from memory."

"What keeps you going after all these years?" Bruiser asked.

"Creatures like you and Ray, and other Dixierats. I would lay down on some nights and wish I was dead, sometimes I contemplate suicide. But it never happened. I knew I would be missed. Obviously from those fans from Faraday Island, but more importantly by you guys. I'm the Dixierat's only connection to our ancient past. My mama told me a lot of stories when I was young, mostly stuff from what her mama told her and what her mama told her. My dad would tell me his share of stories, whom his dad had told him. If I die, the Dixierats will lose that link to their past and I can tell you that it will hurt more than you can ever imagine. It will be a wound that will never heal."

Bruiser blinked. "Oh that is scary."

"I'm not going to die and leave you wondering what your past was _really_ like. It's not always lab experiments, Bruiser. I came from a time when I used to live free in the wild. I didn't have to worry about humans, they were almost non-existent then. Now they are all over the place, their cities getting bigger and our own homes getting smaller. We all know this because we've been there."

Bruiser's eyes started pouring tears, "You understand me."

"More than that," I said. "You understood me, and yourself. You've inherited my depression, inherited my experiences. I'm sorry for having you go through this, and I'm sorry for having a grudge against you when we first met."

"You had a grudge against me?"

"Bad memories, B. The brother I cared about was a victim of a raichu. Through you, somehow I felt he can forgive that raichu from what happened."

Bruiser's eyes glazed with tears, I jumped up to him and hugged him. He cried in my shoulder and I patted him on the back. "I accidentally punched Uncle several years back. It was an accident. Ray was getting on my nerves and I blew my stack. I swat my arm back to give him a good wallop in the face and I hit Uncle. I knocked out one of his teeth, he started screaming. I panicked and ran."

I said nothing.

"I never wanted to hurt anybody! I swear, Tesla, I swear! I didn't mean him no harm, in fact I didn't even know he was there! I-"

"Bruiser," I interrupted. "Don't worry about it, he passed away a happy pikachu. None of that matters anymore."

Bruiser sniffled and let me down. "I only wish I said goodbye to my brother. Ray is fucking annoying, but my brother was very close to me. I don't even know why I hang out with that failed lab experiment, I guess it was because he cared about me more than my brother had." The raichu swung his stubby arms up and down. "I don't understand."

"Cause Ray is the boss, he has power and muscle. I guess that was how he became a Dixierat leader, evolving into a rikachu in all. Most of all he is your one true friend, he will stand by your side no matter how much you shun him."

Bruiser wiped away a tear. "I don't wanna be out here, I don't wanna get caught by the crew."

"Okay, let's go rejoin the others. I got a lot of explaining to do and I guess that may fill in some holes in your past."

 **. . .**

We got back inside the freight container to find Ray in distress. He whimpered under piles of blankets, scared to death. The Dixierats, being Dixierats, just stood by and watched. Volta seemed to know what she was doing, she got everybody as far away from Ray as possible and cleared the area around him to avoid from hurting himself. But she could do little to ease Ray's nerves.

"What's going on?" I asked Volta.

She said, "Ray's having episodes again, had been a while since the last one."

"Fireworks," said Bruiser. "I almost forgot he had schizophrenia."

Either he was born with the condition or they were drug-induced from way back. Either way, we can't have Ray flipping out now. He's huge and powerful, and none of us not even Bruiser and I can pin him down. The only way we could treat Ray's schizophrenia is to comfort him, but that carries a risk of backfiring. I walked up to Ray and pulled back some of the blankets aside to expose his head. Ray had buried his face into his good arm and wrapped his ears with blankets. I reached out and ripped the blanket aside. "Ray, are you awake?"

He looked up, his eyes bulging wide open. "Tes, the fireworks!"

I frowned, "Did you think of something that triggered it or it just came without warning?"

He couldn't hear me, so I repeated myself. "They," said Ray. "They just showed up without warning!"

I reached out and grabbed his cheeks. "Okay. Now, Ray, I need you to tune it out. Fireworks comes in a variety of colors, so which colors is mostly prevalent right now?"

"Red, lots of red!"

"Can you change to color to yellow?"

Ray's face changed. "I, I can!"

I patted Ray's head and said, "You want beer to drown it out?"

"Yeah, I think we have a keg and a few beer packs on hand."

Bruiser went up to our supplies and started pulling it apart. "Yep, we have a beer keg. It's small though, but I think it's only for Ray."

"Why?"

"It has his name on it."

 **. . .**

So we pulled the blankets off of Ray and turned him over on his back. We grabbed the hose and stuck it in his mouth. Bruiser held up the beer keg. It was a small, made out of aluminum and covered with a plastic-like label. It was a Faraday Island brand. I recalled that Faraday Island makes the best kind of any alcohol. I know, I had my liver regrown to prove it. We turned on the keg's faucet and golden booze started pouring into Ray's mouth. The rikachu cracked a smile, the beer was already working its magic. We kept it going until he waved his hand, then Bruiser cut the flow. He finished what was left in the hose and hiccupped, "Oh, what a night."

Ray collapsed, muttered something unintelligible, then passed out mid-burp. The Dixierats were giggling, but Bruiser was puzzled. "I never seen him shitfaced before, I don't think he even drank that much before."

"If it keeps him calm, then I hope his dreams will bring him mercy."

The Dixierats started climbing over him, biting and nibbling on his fur, and licking his face. I opened up our sack of supplies and pulled out a beer pack. You know, we should have a family moment. We have more than enough beer to last us the entire trip."

Volta's eyes went big, "NO!"

All eyes, except Ray's, turned to Volta. One major feature of Volta's character was her abstinence of alcohol. She had enough moments of me going shitfaced over beer that it had scarred her. She already gave me a distraught bantering over the issue, I wasn't going to let her unleash another. I turned to the Dixierats and they looked at me. I didn't need to say anything, they knew what I was thinking.

And then Volta herself melted down. "Don't drink! Don't drink! Please, don't-"

Bruiser came up behind her and bear hugged her, cutting her off mid-sentence. She yelped as Bruiser carried her over to the thick blanket cot and laid her down. I crawled up beside her and pinned her down. She blinked, having no idea what was going on.

"Okay," I said. "You really need to drop the whole drinking issue."

I gave up, I honestly gave up. She said I failed in raising her that night, so I guess I could shield her from corruption no more. Her innocence wasn't doing us any favors and was getting in the way. I think it was about time she get a taste of what having beer is like. As much as I liked the idea, a tiny part of my mind was opposed.

Volta blinked, looking at me with those soft eyes of hers. "What?"

I guess I really do have authority over the Dixierats. They three of them climbed off of Ray and joined me. They each took one of Volta's limbs and pinned it down. She tried to break free, but wasn't strong enough. Bruiser came back with the beer keg. A smile was on his face, I don't think he cared about Volta's innocence either.

"What's going on!?" she cried.

Bruiser said, "You know, we had enough of you interrupting our beer moments. Ray doesn't give a shit, but everyone else does. Here, tubby, pop this in your mouth and give it a try."

He sank the end of the hose down her throat and turned on the beer keg. Seeing how the situation look, and seeing how the Dixierat's eyes were saying, I think they had thoughts of mating with her. Now note that these Dixierats aren't picky. Male, female, hermaphrodite, it doesn't matter. Pokémon are weird. They follow no rules besides the rules of what is possible and what is not possible. Realizing how chaotic things will get, I had to act fast.

The beer started flowing down the tube and straight into Volta's mouth. She was revolted by the horrid taste of the beer, which was not surprising. My first drink tasted horrible as well, but it wasn't this extreme. Volta resisted at first, but just gave up. I let the beer flow for a while before telling Bruiser to cut the flow. Once the last of the beer was drained from the tube, the Dixierats released their grip. Bruiser pulled out the tube and Volta coughed, catching her breath. I was about to help her up until she gave me a hard head butt in the gut. I got knocked back and lost my balance. A fellow Dixierat helped me up. I watched as Volta got back on her hind feet and barked, "Why," she asked in confused rage. "Just why!?"

I could tell in her voice she didn't want to attack me, but she definitely have a temper. I merely said, "Give it a moment."

She took a step toward me, then stopped. Volta placed both hands on her chubby belly. Her faced change, the beer was working her way into her system. I knew it wouldn't take long before the beer start dulling her senses. She was feeling the initial effects. Bloating, gas even. Her system, having no resistance against alcohol, was struggling to process the sudden influx of a foreign substance. She had no experience, mentally or physically, of drinking beer, until this afternoon.

"My stomach is bouncing inside my belly," she said.

I said nothing.

She dropped on her but and leaned against the freight container wall. I can't tell she was having mixed feelings about this. Her mind was saying 'no', but her body was saying 'maybe'. Five minutes passed and she started to relax. The closer she got to the ten minute mark, the greater her smile grew. I crawled up beside her and sat down, she rested her head on my side and I wrapped my arm around her. "Here," I said. "Let me walk you through it."

 **. . .**

Walking through it, as in, having her sleep in my arms after her moment of being shitfaced. Once I was assured she was snoozing, Bruiser and I allowed ourselves some beer. A few Dixierats decided to have some as well, the rest refused, still feeling nauseous from sea sickness. We all sat in an oval and traded stories. Much of the stories I heard were recent, and many of the Dixierats with us was there to see it. I let them talk for a moment and let the beer snuff out my own recent memories, then Bruiser asked, "Any tales from your old days of your childhood?"

I said, "As far as I recall, things were gradual and slow-paced. The portable computer was just getting its start, the Internet has yet to be commercialized. None of this mattered at the time, I was not yet integrated into the human world."

"How were those days?"

I shrugged, "Much like the Dixierats, except a lot of mice pokémon were fairly old. I used to have elders and figures I used to look up to. Come to think of it, though the culture was way different from Dixierat culture, the Viridian Forest mice pokémon's behavior was quite the same." I chuckled. "Some things never change, perhaps they were built right into our biology."

Ray stirred and let out a yawn. He emerged from the blankets and stretched out his legs, looks like his stupor has worn off. "What time is it?"

"Sunset," I said. "Tell me about yourself, Ray, like how many names of drugs that were being pumped into you from your last career."

He chuckled. "Career? Like being a laboratory mouse is a career. Well, much of the names of drugs I don't recall, but I do know their trade names. Do you know the drug Viagra?"

"I remember seeing a bottle of it on my trainer's nightstand when he was married," I said. "And I did seen the commercials."

"I used to be one of the test subjects for Viagra," he said. "Its actual name was Sildenafil, the researchers were experimenting to see how it could treat erectile dysfunction and low blood pressure."

"How did it go?"

"Well, Tes. The tests last thirty days. The researchers measured my blood pressure and my capillaries for any changes. The only problems I had were the constant erections, which they measured too."

Bruiser said, "I do recall that Ray was given a hot-tail of drugs. The scientists even gave him cocaine to see how he would react. He was bouncing all over the walls in his cage after a few minutes, our handler had to get him out and put him in the exercising wheel so he could burn off the excess energy."  
"I don't remember that."

The raichu shot a look at Ray. "That's because you fucking crashed! They brought you back to your cage after the cocaine's effects have worn off!" Bruiser turned back to me. "They haven't gave him any more after that."

Ray said, "You know, to come to think of it, ever since I had evolved into a rikachu my girth can cause problems. I think my bones and joints weren't intended to be stretched out as they were. It almost makes me wished to take all those drugs again."

"Almost?" I asked.

"Almost, because the more I take them, the less effective they become. Alcohol was a better alternative, it helps with the schizophrenia along with the occasional aches."

I closed my eyes and said, "I recall Polly was under the influence of Valium during our little meetings, I think they hooked her up due to her solidary lifestyle."

"She was doped out on Valium?" Bruiser asked.

"Yes, because she never left the lab smelled fresh air, in fact she never seen the sun."

Ray grabbed my green drawcord bag and opened it up. I guess he was curious. Of course, the Dixierat philosophy, _What's mine is yours and yours is mine_. I didn't really pay attention to him until he pulled out the windproof lighter. "Hey, Tes," he said, holding up the orange Zippo. "How did you get this lighter?"

"You know what it is?" I asked.

"Andy has a few he occasionally uses." Ray checked the bottom stamp of the lighter. "This lighter is barely a year old, where did you get it?"

I thought about Eric Mason. "Someone I met."

He flicked open the lid and sparked the wheel, revealing a flame. Bruiser and the other Dixierats gazed upon the glow for a moment before Ray closed the lid, extinguishing the flame. "Nice, you know these lighters are made in Faraday Island?"

"Yes, Ray. I know. They were made by Faradian Department of Defense, manufactured and issued to all of its armed forces. A law was passed way back to have a lighter store in the major cities of Faraday Island. What you got there is a civilian model, which has a brass case. The military ones have steel cases, they aren't as durable as their brass counterparts but just as reliable."

"Why steel?"

I said, "Because brass is expensive."

Ray tucked the lighter back in the drawcord sack, the fumes that were steaming out of my ears ceased. I blinked, then said, "I wonder if it was a habit of mine to be angry, or moderately irritated. I don't know why, but I usually get angry at people and pokémon I knew or people and pokémon who knew me."

"Old habits?" Ray asked.

I said, "Goes back since I was in captivity, around the time I was making a transition from my old identity to my new one."

Volta stirred, her eyes fluttered open and yawned, and then she sat up. Her breath still smelled like alcohol and her face was still in a stupor. She was more boozed out than Ray, but sober enough for consciousness. "So is this what it feels like to be drunk?" she asked.

I said, "Sometimes, but it really depends on your mood."

She pressed against my side, rubbing her head against my arm. Volta then sat there for a brief moment before breaking down crying.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I don't know," she sobbed.

She got up on her hind legs and wrapped her arms around my head, then she gently nibbled on one of my ears. I turned to Ray and asked, "Is there a comb in there?"

Ray opened up our supply bag. "Yup, a small black one for people with short hair."

"Toss it here."

Ray tossed me the comb and I had Volta sit in front of me, then I began combing her back. He cooed and held up her chin. I groomed down her back, getting much of the loose hair off her fur. She laid back against me and I reached around and combed her belly. She giggled, "That tickles!"

I pressed my nose against the back of her head and sniffed, her scent smells just like Polly's.

 **. . .**

I woke up in the middle of the night with a thought in mind.

I was going back to Faraday Island, the land where I was remade over a seventy year period. I have seen its people build magnificent buildings, stockpile of weapons, readying itself for a war that may never come. They were prepared to fight off an invasion, a _human_ invasion. Soldiers with guns being air dropped into the island and landing across its coast lines, marching through its cities, using intimidation to control the local population. Faraday Island has more guns than any region or province on the planet, around five guns per household. Faraday Island has countlessly refused requests by the World Government to disarm, resulting in sanctions. No sanction could harm Faraday Island, however. Everything was an enclosed system. Its people grow their own food in skyscrapers, purify and bottle its own water, mine and harvest its own resources on its own soil. The sea alone provide the remaining 40% of the nation's food supply. Almost nothing but garbage is imported into Faraday Island. Even with sanctions, Faraday Island is home to the best smugglers in the world. I can't say how many trade laws were violated, but I heard enough stories that it ranged into the thousands.

Faraday Island is not a capitalist system in a sense. The Island has no stock exchange, as it was banned by the provincial government. The economy is mostly stable, no gain or loss for the past thirty years. Medicine and education is free, paid for by the government. Rich people, most of whom are government workers and CEOs, are deemed second-class citizens. They have a cap limit on how much money they could have inside the Island's one and only bank, any bonuses or extra income is taken in as taxes, which in turn goes to fund the schools and hospitals. These people will tell you life is okay, but it is hard to be greedy when it comes to cash. Anything tangible, like guns and windproof lighters, are fair game.

Whatever that meant.

What Andy is doing, assuming it was really Andy's doing, is going against the Island's supreme law of the land. He was introducing a foreign species into the Island. The Dixierats may be carrying seeds, bacteria, and fungi that could threaten the Island's delicate eco-system. Knowing the Dixierats, they're going to get into every crook and cranny of Faraday Island and are going to breed like crazy, devouring much of the Island's resources, and becoming an eternal nuisance to the local population. I stirred that thought in my mind for a long while as I stared into the darkness of the freight container, just how will Faraday's citizens react?

I cracked a smile. Faraday Island, more specifically Faraday City, had screwed me over for decades. I was no more of a crook than Irvin. I cheated, raided, and embezzled for my own gain. Irvin's mysterious income kept fueling our lifestyle in the backcountry of his old father's farm. We backstabbed Team Rocket for guns and other supplies and stored untaxed cash in secret hiding spots across the Island. Yes, they were that secret. Many of these caches were buried in almost inaccessible places of the Island. Some of these caches were unregistered firearms, stolen from Team Rocket's many armories. I hadn't checked those caches in years. I wonder if anyone have the same idea of hiding illegal weapons out there, perhaps they accidentally dug up Irvin's caches to hide their own. Realizing their mistake, they either move on to other places or bury their cache right next to his. I wasn't sure if that theory was true or not, I had yet to investigate.

I reached across my side and felt Volta's fur. She was still there, curled up, sleeping. Her snores sounded weird, but she was comfortable enough. I let out a yawn and changed position. I need to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to get exciting.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10_

My internal clock didn't wake me this time, but the _Experiment's_ fog horn did. The whole ship shuttered as the fog horn blasted across the ocean. I sensed every Dixierat on this ship was stirred awake. The Dixierats with me also stirred, moaning and yawning. Ray was obviously a morning person, because he was already up, amusing himself with his own tail. "Morning, guys!" he chirped.

Volta hiccupped when she heard Ray's voice, she stirred but couldn't get up. I took her hand and helped her up. "Morning, Volta."

She turned to me, her eyes gray with sleep and a mighty hangover. The mouse pokémon placed her hand on her belly and rubbed it. "I don't feel so good."

I wasn't sure if she had remembered yesterday, if she did she didn't care. Volta didn't get up to use the portable toilet. It was filled a long time ago and was sealed up with a plastic trash bag. Instead she stayed by my side and used all her will to keep her bodily fluids in. "You slept well?" I asked.

"Until I woke up," she said. "My mouth tastes weird and my head hurts."

"That's temporary," I said. "Here, let's go get some fresh air."

The fog horn bellowed again, I think we were approaching land. I muscled Volta up onto her feet and led her to door. Ray came up from behind and pulled up the latch, then pushed it open. Bright sunlight flooded the room, followed by cold salty air. It drove everyone in the freight container awake. I turned to Bruiser, he was climbing on all four limbs and stretching his legs. He asked, "What's going on?"

"Come with us and find out."

Bruiser stood up and stumbled toward us. We all stepped out into the open deck of the cargo ship and breathed. Volta's eyes were squeezed shut, it took some encouragement for her to open her eyes to see. "What are we doing?" she asked.

"We're approaching land," I said. "Possibly Faraday Island."

She looked at me with those soft marble eyes of hers and asked, "Do I look pretty to you?"

At first I was confused by her question, then took a moment and scanned her flabby body. "Volta, you're a pikachu. You're adorable no matter what."

"Pretty much," said Bruiser, clapping a stubby hand on her shoulder. "You got your mother's charm."

I said, "Why you asked?"

She said, "Because I got the impression that you don't like me being fat, but you secretly are."

Ray snickered, Bruiser even let out a chuckle. I remember clasping her last night, burying my face into her fur, and giving her gentle love bites across her belly. Besides that I kept to myself, but she gladly returned the favor, and then some. I guess I had to come clean, so I told her, "The pokémon on Faraday Island are often lazy and over their average weight, especially Irvin's pokémon back in the day. The pokémon who occasionally annoy me were often fat and lazy, but I couldn't bring myself to hate them."

Then Ray added, "It's either that, or fat is used for sex appeal. We pokémon don't have much to show compare to humans, that's one reason why a lot of Dixierats are gay or bi-sexual."

I turned around and pressed my hands against my head, then started walking. "I didn't need to know that. I do not wish to know that. Of course Irvin's pokémon aren't that different, but they don't rub that in."

Ray said, "I'm not rubbing it in, Tes."

"The fuck you're not."

Volta hobbled up to me, her hangover seemed to be forgotten. "Tesla, what's wrong?"

I turned to her and pointed to where I thought was Faraday Island, "But I'll tell you what's wrong. I've been remade on that fucking rock! What you see here is a result of relearning and unlearning pokémon habits and behavior. I was taught to read, write, and speak human; I was taught proper manners and how to act around people. I got a sense of property, personal space. Fuck sake, Tesla Westinghouse isn't even my birth name. I wasn't always called Tesla."

"Then what's your real name?" Ray asked.

I shrugged, "I don't have much of a real name. My mom and dad aren't big on naming us. They knew us by scent, touch, and taste. My mama, however, tend to call me by one particular name."

Bruiser said, "Which is?"

I stood there, trying to unearth that ancient memory. Then it came to me. "Sparky," I said. "She often calls me Sparky, and it's a common electric-type pokémon name. However it's mostly designated to mice pokémon."

Ray could barely hold his laughter, Bruiser and Volta merely smiled. "That's all I have left from my mama, an old name. I hadn't thought about it in almost a century, until now."

Volta said, "Sparky, I guess that could explain your powers."

"She wasn't aware of it, and neither did I until I blew off Irvin's hand."

"So do you like me more when I'm fat?"

I frowned, "Volta, anyone will like you more when you're fat. It's because you have more to grab on to when somebody decides to hug you, and cradle you, and cuddle you until you feel adored."

Ray backed me up on this. He got behind Volta and scooped her up with his good arm. "Pretty much," he says as he pressed his nose against Volta. "Everyone likes soft and furry things."

Volta giggled as Ray tickled her for a moment, I turned back to the freight container and checked the other Dixierats. They either went back to sleep or just sat there, staring off into the abyss. _"Guys,"_ I told them in pokémon speech. _"You best get ready, we're going to dock today."_

They complied by getting up and stretching their legs, then going back to sleep. So much for motivation.

 **. . .**

I felt the freight ship's propellers changed pitch. The _Experiment_ was slowing down, it was preparing to dock. The next thing I knew was looking up and seeing the familiar skyline of Faraday City above me. Tall glass buildings, reaching the height of two hundred stories, murmured with noise of activity. This was no ordinary city, it was a mega city. Much of the city's office buildings had a triangle-pattern design built into its construction, this gives them greater structural integrity than their early Modern counterparts. The green cylindrical buildings grow almost all of the city's food. Corn, soybeans, coffee, the vertical farms grow them all and deliver them to stores within walking distance. I recall going to Faraday City's flea market with Matt and Irvin to buy groceries and widgets. We made out with boxes of fruits and vegetables harvested within seven to fourteen days and some other odd stuff. Later Irvin decided to open his own booth at the flea market, and he had quite a collection of shit he picked up throughout our travels together.

Locally-made, individualism, and self-preservation, Faradian values taken like the commandments of a religion. Now they were going to be put to the test. They were supposed to be prepared for an invasion, but boy they were not going to expect a _pokémon_ invasion.

We had to go back into the freight container, as the crew were coming back on deck to help the port authority secure the _Experiment_ to the dock. I heard them walk back and forth passed us as we sat and waited. Ray said that Andy was going to announce a signal. A signal of what? I forgotten about the Dixierats on board for a moment, I guess I was too well deep within memory lane.

"You have a plan one we start to unload?" I asked Ray.

"Make a run toward Matt's place," he said. "Matthew Kissinger."

"Does he know what is going on?"

"No, he doesn't."

I said, "Okay, let's get packed up. Ray, I need you to haul ass by carrying your late Uncle's body on our back. Volta, help me strap him down. If we're going to run like madmen down the streets of Faraday City, then we gotta be quick. Faraday City has the highest police per population ratio in the world and they are militarized. I know the streets by heart, so I going to need you to trust me on this."

Bruiser said, "Andy claims he's going to cover us by jamming inbound and outbound communication lines. I don't understand how electronic comms work, do you know how wired Faraday City is?"

"Very wired, so wired in fact that you can jam one line and they'll switch to another within a blink of an eye. Jam that one and so on. If word gets out too fast about the Dixierat invasion, the Faradian's National Guard is going to be activated and it will be contained, and I don't wanna think about what they would do to the Dixierats."

Ray said, "Andy has people in high places, we're going to get an edge for a while. By the time their National Guard is mobilized, we would be spread out across Island and have a foot hold in strategic places."

"Strategic?"

"Andy picked it out, he said he used to come to those areas during his time in the Army Reserve."

Now how would Andy feed all those Dixierats? This island barely grows anything, which is the main reason why vertical agriculture is utilized. I didn't ask about food, because I knew the Dixierats would find a way. If I could survive out in Faraday Island's backcountry for twenty years then so could they. But what about the Dixierats who choose to live under the shadow of the Island's cities? The skills and knowhow they learned to survive in the wilderness is mostly useless in the urban jungle. I do recall my transition from the pokémon to human world was far from pleasant, but all pokémon experience it differently. I was brought into it against my will, these Dixierats are making the transition willingly.

So many factors, so many questions. I question Andy's logic. He was no military strategist, he is a pokémon doctor. Even though he, like all Faradians, had spent some time in the Reserve that doesn't give him a certificate to draft battle plans.

With that in mind, I started packing our shit up. I put my green drawcord bag on and helped Volta in carrying my dead son. His body was stone cold, no life left. We hauled it up onto Ray's back and Bruiser got out some thick paracord. We tied the body down to Ray. It looks awkward, so awkward that I felt stupid about it. If Andy was on board somewhere in the _Experiment_ , why couldn't we hitch a ride with him to Matt's house? Oh, that's right. He has his hands full in trying not to get his ass arrested and thrown in jail. I suppose he had inside people in the FPD to bail him out. Oh why am I complaining about this anyway, and why do I even care? Was it because this Island had served to be my home, or was it the fact that it screwed me over?

Once the late elder Dixierat was secured to Ray's back, Volta turned to me and asked, "What's the big city like?"

"Lots of food and generous people," I said. "But car traffic may be a problem, I almost got ran over a few times. Besides that, you can live a comfortable life."

Volta's eyes glittered in the near darkness of the freight container. "Ooh, how about hotels?"

"Plenty of those around, but you won't need those. We're going to stay in an actual home, for now."

Ray said, "I call the couch when we get to Matt's house."

I said, "You could just sleep in Emmy's old bedroom."

"Hey, I'm a couch potato. I prefer to sleep on the sofa since the TV is right there, and the snacks within arm's reach."

I frowned. "Okay then, but whatever you guys do, take a shower. When's the last time you ever bathed?"

"Months," said Ray.

"I washed myself at the Nimbasa River two weeks ago," said Bruiser.

"I hadn't bathed at all since Vegas City," said Volta.

I said, "Even though I'm used to your scents, doesn't mean the humans are. Matt is going to hold his nose if he gets a whiff of you guys, so we're going to need to wash. You may want to shower in a group, since water isn't exactly cheap."

Ray said, "Got it. Bathe first, sleep later."

Lazy inbred, I swear Ray is enthusiastic about everything. He has no idea how serious this was. I doubt he would be given a fair trial if caught. There's a chance he could be sent back to the labs, not for experiments and tests, but for study. He's a one of a kind mutant mouse pokémon, no way I could see how the WHO would let him go.

Before I knew it I heard a loud garbled song play outside. Ray's ears perked. "That's the signal, guys!"

 **. . .**

We threw open the doors as a familiar tune blasted into the freight container. This was the song I heard Ray sang with a group of Dixierats back in Dixie. It was simply a banjo and a guitar playing the tune, well synced and defined, and it was instrumental. I was just about to step outside when I was nearly ran over by several speeding Dixierats. They zipped by with lightning speed stopping for nothing, I stumbled back and watched as mice pokémon of all times started running passed me.

"There they go," said Bruiser. "With pride and glory."

I stuck my head out and saw freight containers popping open like a Jack in the Box. Mice pokémon poured out in a torrent. First there were a dozen, two dozen, and then four dozen. The whole ship was covered with Dixierats. I was flabbergasted, overwhelmed by the sight and smell of my own decedents. I snapped out of it and jumped up on Ray's back. "Get us up high, I wanna see what this looks like."

Ray sprinted out of the freight container and plowed into the Dixie crowd. Despite having one good arm he was quite a climber. He leaped up on the freight containers and made it as high as he could go. Bruiser followed behind, Volta clung to his back as he climbed up the freight containers. He was slower, but more careful as Ray. When he rejoined us, I looked out over the dock toward Faraday City.

And all I saw was a sea of orange and yellow fur. The Dixierats moved as a single mass. They ran across the walkways that connected the _Experiment_ to the port. The humans down below were overwhelmed. They climbed up over whatever they could to avoid the surging mass. Those unfortunate enough to be caught in the open were mowed down and buried. I turned back toward the ship and almost all the freight containers were opened, filled with Dixierats just waiting for space to jump out and escape. I couldn't believe Andy crammed a whole ship with chus, even if he had help this task should've been impossible.

"We got to move," I said. "We stay here and we're going to get captured."

Ray chirped, "Onward then!"

He stupidly leaped into the Dixierat crowd, I hanged on as he body slammed on the deck. The Dixierats moved just in time before impact. Ray wasn't hurt, he just bounced back up like a coiled spring and off he went. Bruiser climbed down and the proper way, Volta hanged on to his shoulders with dear life.

"I'll follow you," said the raichu. "Just show us where to go."

Ray made a run down the walkway. The Dixierats knew he was coming, they barely had enough time to clear the way as he approached. "CHOO CHOO!" he chirped.

I think he was pretending to be a train, because he was plowed through the crowd, knocking any chu unfortunate enough to be in his way. I peered ahead and notice that most of the raichus were up front, acting as a battering ram to clear a way for their lesser evolutions behind them. Humans caught in their way were knocked aside. Just another obstacle, another burden in their path. We got deep enough into the port where we finally saw the security response. I know by experience that any security response is fast and rapid. The guards, police officers, and soldiers had done drills, knowing what to do when there's a terrorist attack or an invasion. The only problem was they were figuring out what to do. They weren't trained to handle a pokémon invasion. I caught sight of a couple of security guards in a kiosk barking into a radio. They were banging on it with their fists, checking the antennas. They were disabled, useless. Was this Andy's doing? If so, how?

It didn't take long for us to get to the fence. Security there was just as clueless. They knew something was up, but didn't know what to expect. So when they saw the Dixie surge their jaws dropped for a second, then hit a lockdown switch. Car barriers facing both ends of the street deployed, followed by two spike strips. They were sharp, thicker than a railroad spike but sharper than a scalpel. That was the best the port authority could do. The car barriers did almost nothing, but the spike strip did have an effect. The raichus saw the problem and stopped, then formed a V formation around the spike strip, this directed the surge _around_ the gate. Ray followed the crowd at first, then made a mad dash for the fence.

"CHOO CHOO!"

I worked fast and gave him as much electricity my system could offer. A bright purple aura enveloped us. Ray plowed into the fence, my electricity melted the fence on contact. There was so much power that the fence burned up like dynamite wick. I didn't know how, didn't care. It carved a big ass hole through the fence, allowing the Dixierats to pass through. I turned toward the kiosk that had the guard. I saw his face, he was staring at me. It was recognition.

I thought about having Ray dash across the port authority to break open another fence to let more Dixierats through. That wasn't necessary as one gate had failed to lock down and Dixierats were plowing through it unhindered. Some climbed for the fence itself, the barb wire lining the top of the fence wasn't enough to deter them. They climbed over it without much effort and dropped down to the other side. Several raichus regrouped and reformed a line, it was thinner than before but much longer. With the pichus and pikachus behind them, they charged straight for the city and into the unsuspecting public.

 **. . .**

"Whoa!" Ray said as we navigated the streets of Faraday City's core. "Everything has ground to a halt!"

Traffic was forced to a standstill as the Dixie surge swooped through the streets. Pedestrians and drivers, both amazed and bewildered, looked on as the Dixierats swooped passed them. The many street cops who patrol the city were quickly tagged and mowed down like weeds. Like the citizens they're supposed to protect and serve, the FPD officers were caught off-guard. Some tried to get on cars, tables, newspaper boxes, just any high ground they could find, before whipping out their batons to keep the Dixierats at bay. Others ran with their fellow denizens into random buildings and barricaded the door. Since much of Faraday City's buildings is mostly made of glass, I could see them pushing furniture in front of the main entrances. Like lab rats caught in a tight squeeze, they scrambled all over the place, trying to use the best of their abilities to avoid a furry entrapment.

Faraday City had these huge public jumbo screens across the street from City Hall, installed sometime around my outlaw years. These screens were always tuned to the Faraday News Network, the Island's government-owned news agency. The screens that supposed to be displaying the sexy news anchor were a bright pure blue, displaying the words _No Signal,_ which bounced around the screen. I could imagine the mayor in his office, trying to get a line to anywhere, as the Dixie plague engulfs his city. I met him some months ago, I have long since forgotten his name but I think his term was almost up about now. What a way to end his administration, watching his city being occupied by an invading force.

As Ray and I charged through the streets, I could see several people had caught sight of me. Their faces show recognition, especially in older folks. I waved and give them a thumbs up as a zipped by, especially to the police officers who used to chase my tail around these very streets.

"Damn I am such an asshole," I said to myself. I tapped Ray on his shoulder and said, "Steer around here, I want to check something."

Ray made the turn as directed. I looked back to check on Bruiser and Volta. They were still there, just right behind us. Further down the street was the main Dixierat surge, a hundred marble eyes staring straight at me.

I knew my way around this city by heart, and I knew where we were going. It didn't take long for us to locate the Faraday City Police Department HQ, the main nerve center of law enforcement in the city. It wasn't made out of glass like the skyscrapers that shadow it, it was made out of classic brick and concrete. Antennas and satellite dishes carpet the roof, and surrounding the building was its parking lot and conjoining street. A rod-iron fence surrounded the compound, not a problem. The gate was still open and the guard manning its kiosk was busy fiddling around with his radio. Again, communications were down. I turned to Bruiser and Volta and said, "Hang back, this will be quick."

Bruiser and Volta took cover behind the kiosk, the guard didn't notice as Ray and I slipped through his gate. The parking lot was full of squad cars, I was looking for a particular one. It didn't take long to find the squad car. Car number 115, belonging to Emmett Kissinger. It was parked in the reserve place by the door.

"See that car," I told Ray.

"Yeah!"

"Head-butt it!"

Ray charged and slammed his head against the back bumper of the squad car. The vehicle jarred forward, its lights flashed for a brief second as the engine blew out. Once smoke started billowing under the hood, I streaked my body around the entire car, then pissed all the urine I had all over the windshield.

"Okay," I said as I jumped back onto Ray. "Let's get to a safe spot and watch."

Ray ran out the gate and Bruiser and Volta rejoined us, I directed Ray toward the side of the block. Just out of sight from the cops but having plain view of Emmy's squad car. We sat back and waited. Sure enough the Dixie surge appeared. The cop in the kiosk finally noticed and proceed to shut the gate. It did no good. The raichus merely charged and brought it down just as it closed, tossing it aside like cardboard. The surge poured into the parking lot and made a bee-line toward the back door. Half the surge bust the door down and charged inside, the other half diverted to Emmy's car. I couldn't help but laugh as the Dixierats proceed to swamp his car, rubbing their bodies over it and whatnot. One Dixierat, a burly raichu, popped open the fuel tank cap and proceed to urinate inside it.

"You have any idea that would work?" Ray asked.

"No," I said. "I didn't know what to expect."

Bruiser asked, "Who owned that car?"

"Matt's son, Emmett Kissinger. He's the Chief of Police of Faraday City. I knew him since the day he was born, watched him grew up and all."

"What was that for?" Volta asked.

"He shot me in the leg and I almost died, what you see there is revenge."

As more Dixierats poured into the HQ, the crowded conditions started forcing the officers inside out the windows. None of them was Emmy, but I do recognized them as the same SWAT team members who try to flag me down in the back alleys of Faraday City's outer ring. Several Dixierats followed behind them, a few quickly caught up to some of them and knocked them down. Once the cops were on their level, the Dixierats proceed to lick their faces to death.

"Damn," I said. "Okay, I've seen enough. Let's head over to Matt's house now before the Dixierats catch up to us."

 **. . .**

The city went from glass to brick. The outer core held much of the older architecture of the city's history. Pre-Information Age buildings make up most of the outer core, all of which are no more than a hundred years old, but gutted sometime in the past thirty years, renovated with state-of-the-art building materials. The outer core is a mixture of office space and apartment complexes, with small Mom & Pop shops sprinkled evenly in between. Zoning laws had changed over the years since I first set foot in Faraday City. I can tell you by experience that much of the city used to be like the outer core. It was only just around the time where I went into exile where the Faradian Army Corp of Engineers had gutted the city's inner core of ALL old buildings, replacing them with the glass super skyscrapers all Faradians know today.

The back streets were cleaner since I last saw them in my outlaw years. Dumpsters and trash cans were sealed shut with metal clamps. There weren't any locks on them, but it sure made it inconvenient for anyone trying to throw something away. The infestation has yet to penetrate the middle ring of the city, but it won't be long before the residents here would start to take notice. We made our way through the back alleys without incident. The architecture reminded me of my early Westinghouse days. Memories of my dead buddies surfaced in my mind. I was further reminded when we dashed passed a convenience store, which I believe was the same one I had raided with them during the Faraday City blackout back in the day.

We slipped out of the outer core of the city and stepped into suburbia, actual one to two-story houses that border the city. Sometimes it was added as part of the outer core, sometimes it was called the outer ring. Whatever you decided to call it, this was the ring that stands between the urban jungle and the wilderness beyond. A lot had changed over the years. Houses were torn down and rebuilt, but some houses remained standing throughout the test of time. These older homes, like much of any century old building, were gutted and renovated. Steel and bolts now make up their once wood and nail skeletons. Solar panels cover their roofs, followed by small vertical-axis windmills that sit on top of each house or back yard. The fences of much of the yards weren't fences at all, rather they were cinderblock walls, all filled and reinforced with concrete and rebar respectively. All the houses were whitewashed, no blue, green, red, or yellow colors, all facades were painted white. Even the roofs were painted white, but it's hard to tell with the solar panels covering them.

"White," said Ray, "just like Andy's bunker."

"Prevents the heat-island effect," I said. "Makes sure that the sun doesn't make the environment too hot."

I steered Ray down the familiar streets, kept checking the four-digit numbers on each mailbox. Several of these houses had those shitty purple flags with my blacked out likeness on them. Matt's house, as I recall, don't have such flag. His house was simple, his yard is grass with no flowers or trees. I steered Ray down the empty streets and zeroed in on Matt's home. There it was, just as I last remembered it. No flags or flowers since his childhood. "Okay, Ray," I said. "This is Matt's house, let's-"

"CHOO CHOO!" Ray broke into a sprint and charged for the door. My eyes went big, I hanged on to the cloth that wrapped my son's body and screamed, "Wait, what are you doing!? Ray, stop!"

He stopped alright, stopped after he plowed right into Matt's front door. The front door had a steel frame with two dead bolts, armored with a chrome-plated strike plate. It had withstood attempted break-ins and other forms of force entry throughout its lifetime. Sadly the door was old, the frame had rusted and the hinges were worn from constant swinging, but it was still strong. However it was designed to keep out humans, not a charging rikachu.

When Ray smashed against the door, the door didn't exactly swung open. It burst open, the frame was not only torn out, but it came off in one piece. The deadbolts were ripped out of their sockets, the hinges of the door cracked and peeled away. I went flying head over heel and slid across the floor, the door clattered against the solid wooden floor with a big ass dent in it.

I sat up, blinking, my head stuck in a fog until Ray blurted out like a complete idiot, "DING DONG! DING DONG! We're here!"

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter 11_

My head ringed from impacted. I growled. I sat up and shot a look at Ray, "Damn it, Ray! Why did you have to break down the fucking door?!"

"For drama," he said.

"This isn't a fucking movie with a stingy plot line! Fuck sake, Ray, you could have hurt yourself! That door isn't made of cardboard, you know!"

"Hey, I bust through lots of barriers before. They're like butter!"

"That door isn't," I stopped briefly and thought for a moment. "Fuck it, Ray! Just fuck it, you fucking abomination!"

Either he heard the door knocked down, which I have no doubt he did, or he heard my familiar rage, Matthew Kissinger came out from the kitchen and wandered into the living room. The first thing he saw was Ray sitting on his destroyed front door, next he saw Bruiser and Volta casually walking in like nothing had happened. I just sat there, grabbing my ears and swearing in pokémon speech until I burned myself out.

"What in the world just happened?" Matt asked, then he glanced at Ray. "And what in the world is he?"

When Matt saw me his eyes lit up like the day he saw Irvin without his left hand. "Holy crap! Tesla!"

My temper forgotten, I leaped up into Matt's arms and he hugged me with dear heart. Irvin may be long gone, but Matt was still here. Old as fuck, but not as old as I. "Matt," I said. "It's great to see you again!"

"I never thought you would be back," he said. "Mark told me what happened in Soho, what happened to you?"

"I was arrested by the URP. Next thing I know, anarchy occurred and I managed to escape the city. Now Andy has stirred up shit and the whole Island is being invaded."

"What, invaded? By whom?"

That's when Ray added, "Mice pokémon, lots of them!"

Matt sat me down and walked passed us, he stuck his head outside and looked out toward the skyline of the city core. Cars were honking, alarms were going off. The sound of what seemed like a thousand Dixierats were chirping all at once. Matt then stepped toward his TV and turned it on, the screen simply shown a blue hue with _No Signal_ bouncing within its borders. "Did they cut the satellite link?"

"Andy may be responsible, but I not sure who really did it. I have yet to see him in this mess."

He then turned to me and said, "Okay then, help me get the door back up."

 **. . .**

Ray got off the door and leaned it against the doorway, Matt wound up getting out an old _No Trespassing_ sign and taped it to the downed door. Not going to do any good considering there was an invasion going on, but that was all anyone could spare at the moment. Matt finally noticed the stench off of us, he wasn't overwhelmed as I thought he would be. Might because he was used to it from our heyday, or his sense of smell is deteriorating. Nonetheless, I got everyone into the bathroom and had them wash. Matt still had all sorts of shampoo in his bathroom, a habit he developed when helping Irvin take care of his pokémon. Their smell is horrendous, but my relatives' stench was worse.

The Dixierats will be attracted to their scent and the electrical wiring of Matt's house. I asked Matt to kill the power for the moment and spray any air freshener and body spray he had. When I returned to the bathroom, Ray carried my late son's body in his good arm and handed him to me. "Here you go, Tes. I know he's my family too but he was closer to you than to us. Thank you for leading us here, we would have wondered around like idiots and fucked things up if you hadn't come along."

I said, "I guess we're equal then."

Ray raised an eyebrow. "Equal? You went out of your way to help us. You were having problems of your own, you didn't have to come with us."

"Ray, can we have this conversation later? I want to get washed up and get these bandages taken care of, so please get in that fucking shower and scrub yourself clean. I hate to see you get sick from your own filth."

The mutant mouse pokémon nodded, "Of course, Grandpa."

I took my son's body and pushed it across the wooden floor to Matt. He was sitting on the couch with one knee while looking out through the window blinds. I pushed the body to him and he took notice. "What's this?"

I said nothing.

"Tesla, what's wrong?"

I looked up at Matt with big glistening eyes. "I don't know how lucky I was to meet you. You built up my world and caught me when it all fell apart, I guess I owe you a great deal of debt to you more than I ever owe Irvin."

"Tes, it was a lot more than that."

"You gave me my image and my name, it all comes down to you."

Matt glanced off at the bathroom, Ray and Volta were squealing with joy as the bathtub continued to run. "I just wanted to help, I didn't know how things will turn out and I'm sure Irvin didn't know either."

"Of course he didn't know, but it helped ease my transition from the wilderness to civilization. I would be worse off without you."

Matt bent down and examined the bundle of blankets containing the elder Dixierat. "Tesla, what do you have here?"

"My son, one of my children from Polly."

"I'm sorry."

"Nothing you could have done, but I helped made his remaining days happy ones. He was depressed like me, but no one to care for him. No one because they didn't understand him. I met him too late, but I fixed the damage nonetheless. I only wish he would live to see his exodus through."

He reached up and touched the bandage on my arm. "You're hurt."

"Nobark's doing, unrelated to all this."

"Who treated you?"

"A doctor named Rex Anderson, he's around Mark's age."

"Was Mark there to see it?"

"He didn't tell you?"

Matt sat back and said, "He came back different, 'A new understanding', he said, and with him were three weary pokémon who claimed you sent them here."

"A dewott, snivy, and timburr?"

"Yes."

"Then yes, I did send them here. They were Nobark's closest friends after Irvin, I owe it to him not to let their lives end with his."

"You did a noble thing there, Tes, in giving them hope."

I held my head down. "Your grandson made it happen. I couldn't do anything, I was in a hospital bed recovering from shellshock. I don't know what goes on inside his head, but I wonder if his idea of servitude is fanatical."

"Fanatical?"

I said, "Yes, fanatical. I never seen anyone _that_ devoted to their pokémon. He has a great distrust over Nobark's friends because they put his life at risk. Now it's the other way around and it's not sitting well in his mind. That snivy had some sort of relationship with his emolga in the past. It made him uneasy, not because of the nature of the relationship, but it confirmed his emolga's true age."

"How old is she?"

I said, "Fifteen years old, almost as Mark's age."

Matt blinked, "Damn. But then again, you were around Irvin's age when he took you in."

"Irvin was aware of it in my case. Mark had no idea about his own emolga. The fact that there was so much he didn't know about her is threatening their friendship. I think he devoted his loyalty to me because he saw how I could hold it together."

"An eye for an eye?"

I shrugged, "I don't know anymore, too much shit is going on. Right now I need to wash and change out these bandages, I'll tell you later."

Matt said, "Take your time, Tesla. I'll watch your son here."

I nodded. "I know you will, thank you."

I left the body with Matt and rejoined my relatives in the bathroom. They were having a good time in the shower. Volta had taken off her handkerchief and set it on the sink, she held her head back and her arms high as warm water rained around her. Ray took the shampoo and poured some all over Bruiser's back, then took a luffa sponge and scrubbed his back. "Press hard, Ray," said Bruiser. "Make sure you got all the crud out."

He was, the suds trailing down Bruiser's legs were brown. In fact, the whole shower floor was brown with grime. I made a face, I didn't realize they were that dirty. I took off my eye-goggles and set them on the sink counter, then shut the door behind them.

"Hey, Tesla," said Ray as he opened the sliding glass door for me. I stepped in and he shut it behind him. "Wow, you look different without your goggles."

"It's what I used to look like when I was in the sticks," I said. "Please hand me some of that shampoo. The black bottle right there on that shelf."

Ray reached up and grabbed the bottle and handed it to me. "Pour it all over you?"

"Yes, of course. But don't scrub me with that luffa, you'll tear my fur out."

Ray poured some of shampoo over my head and back, then lathered it all over me. I tore off my bandages and inspected the stitches. They were covered in congealed blood, clusterfucked with white pus. That's what happens when you leave a dirty bandage on for too long. I wadded the old bandages and sat them on the shelf, then gently wiped the pus away with my hand. The crud joined the grime on the shower floor below, making its way toward the drain. Volta helped lathered the shampoo on my back, even getting around my ears. She had been with me long enough to know the shape of my frame, which helped her clean my fur efficiently. "You're not losing too much fur this time," she said. "Look, your fur is shiny again."

I stood there in the steaming shower for five minutes as Ray, Bruiser, and Volta scrubbed each other's bodies, getting the hard to reach places. I personally scrubbed Volta's back with my hands, lathering shampoo around her armpits and neck. She purred as I scrubbed her ears, and then I scrubbed her tail. "How often do you use your tail as a club?" I asked.

"Never since Vegas City."

Bruiser placed his stubby paws on my tail and held it up. "There isn't much fur here," he said."

I asked, "Where?"

Bruiser touched the spot, I felt smooth skin on the bottom of my tail. Not at the very end, but just underneath the corner. "Andy told me that older pikachus have circulation problems in their tails, especially when the base gets damaged."

"He's right about that, but I'm not sure if I had any circulation problems at all."

"But why is there a bald spot here?"

"That's from decades of dragging it."

Ray slapped some shampoo over my tail and lathered it. "The tail is often the hardest to clean for pikachus, add in poor circulation and you get rapid skin rash and infections. Andy had to amputate a tail one time because it got stricken with gangrene."

"The pikachu wasn't happy about it," said Bruiser. "But understands, it had no feeling in the tail anyway."

We washed off all the soap from our bodies and Ray cut the water. I then grabbed some towels out from underneath the sink and passed them around. We wiped ourselves the best we could. It isn't easy drying fur. So much water got clogged into it that it would take more than a simple towel. We didn't have a hair dryer, Matt gave it away after his wife passed. Despite the lack of a hair dryer, the towels worked fine. We wiped every corner of our bodies and dumped all the towels on Ray. "Here," I said. "Take these to the washing machine and stuff them in, but don't turn it on."

"What if Matt has laundry in there?" I asked.

"Matt never leaves laundry in the washing machine, go right ahead."

"Oh, okay."

The washing machine and dryer, like almost all households in Faraday Island, was in the kitchen. Ray chucked the towels inside the washing machine, but left the door open. Matt was in the kitchen, he had unfolded the blanket and exposed my son's body. He had handled enough pokémon to know the many ailments afflicting them. Matt already didn't like what he saw, I suppose it wasn't a surprise.

"No signs of bowel movement," he said. "Normally he would void his bladder and bowels after he passed, but there's no sign of it."

"I think he was constipated," said Ray. "He hadn't pooped in days."

I climbed up on the counter and sat by my son's corpse. The poor thing looked as frail as he was alive, but this time he finally broken down. "How did he live like this?" Matt asked.

"He couldn't," said Bruiser. "We tried to help, we all did. Only Tesla got through to him, after that he was fine until he started shutting down."

"He started eating more," said Ray. "I recalled he ate almost nothing, the sudden shock of food might have clogged up his plumbing."

"He wasn't complaining of constipation," I said. "In fact he wasn't complaining of anything, he knew it was his time."

Matt folded up the blanket and tossed it into the washing machine. "Andy might give a more definite answer. If it's alright with you, Tes, we could put him in the freezer until Andy can take care of him."

I thought about the idea for a moment, it isn't something I would want for him but we didn't have much choice. "Okay," I said. "But stick him in a bag with road salt, I don't want his body getting freezer burns."

 **. . .**

We couldn't watch TV because we turned off the power, doubled with the fact that the satellite signal was being jammed. So Matt and I sat there and told stories of our heyday to my younger relatives. We tuned out the world outside for quite a while. Ray, who had the attention span of a goldeen, wondered off into the kitchen in search for food and coke. Knowing Matt, he didn't stash as much food as he used to since the bird left the nest and the mate had passed. Ray wasn't complaining, after I heard him shut the fridge he went silent for some time.

Bruiser curled up on the other couch and went to sleep. It was a major relief for him after having his brother and home taken away from him. Volta stayed curled up by my side as Matt helped re-bandage my wounds. The familiar tightness he put on them brought back memories on the times he helped me. Bandaging and splinting was the most common form of help. I had broken a few bones during our journey and he took great care on getting me splinted until I reached the pokémon center. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against pokémon centers, but there was something about them that I didn't like. Probably it was because of all the wounded pokémon I had seen come walking through that door. Not walking, per se, but carted toward the emergency room by Nurse Joy's handy little helpers.

I guess that was why Irvin had me stay at home rather than getting proper treatment from the pokémon center. I broke and sprained limbs, and after he got me patched up he took me _straight_ home and into his bed. He got into many arguments with a variety of doctors, including our personal ones, about it. Most of the time he wins out, either he presented a good ass argument for "my" cause or he paid the medical bill before tax season. The one time I had to stay at the Faraday City Pokémon Hospital was after I slit an artery in my leg along with a broken hip. Irvin wasn't the sueish type like Mark, he knew I had to stay without question. I didn't exactly complain about the therapy, but they did wanna keep me for a while because I wouldn't talk. The Nurse Joy tried to coax me into talking, even tried to have me paired up with several pokémon who were also in therapy.

What she didn't realize was that much of the pokémon there were my former opponents. They gave me one good look and backed away. I think they all backed into a corner of the room, fearing for their lives. I just sat there, feeling pitiful. The Nurse Joy wasn't sure what to make of it until she did a little search, and discovered I was the one who caused their injuries in the first place. These pokémon were here for weeks, months after the pokémon battles we had. They still haven't recovered, probably never will. The damage I done to them cannot be fixed. Nurse Joy was persistent, with all due respect that was her job, but she didn't realize when to quit. One afternoon during therapy, Nurse Joy tried coaxing me into chatting again. I eventually had enough, and gestured for a pencil.

The audino brought in a notepad and a pencil, and I wrote on it in cursive, _"I have nothing to say to you. If you want to help me, send those pokémon home. They're done."_

It was a rare moment where my influence comes into play. When Irvin stopped by to visit, I told him to get our lawyer. We made it a case, made it on the front page of legal news. Irvin's former opponents, many of whom hadn't seen their pokémon since their last battle, pressed charges. They want their pokémon out, they want to take them home and be done with it. The chairman of the Faraday Island Pokémon Hospital refused. Opposition grew, the case quickly became an international concern because it goes against the pokémon center code: First, do no harm. Second, help and heal all pokémon under your care. I know that may not actually be the code, but it made sense to me. The trial got bounced up into the appellate court, then it went to Faraday Island's Supreme Court. Doctors from all over the world presented their cases, using studies and stories of injured pokémon. It didn't take long before the case, _Faraday Department of Medicine v. Westinghouse,_ was given the final hearing.

The Supreme Court judges' ruling on Irvin's favor, my favor, on a 9-0 agreement. They recognized that not all injuries can be healed and keeping them into therapy has done more harm than good. This also touched upon the "right-to-die" issue for both human and pokémon, and also touched upon pokémon rights quite a lot. The Supreme Court ordered Faraday Island Pokémon Hospital to release the incapacitated pokémon and return them to their owners. Faraday City's mayor at the time not only enforced the ruling, he took it further by overthrowing the hospital's chairmen and ALL senior staff, replacing them with thirty-year olds. The new chairmen paid the owners for damages out of the hospital's coffers, Irvin himself paid the trainers a small bonus from his own pocket. Though they didn't win the pokémon battle, the aftermath had earned them a place in history.

Not sure what happened to the pokémon after they went home, as for me, I recovered. The broken hip bones done me some good. They held my frame up better than before. My posture had improved, unnatural to my species but quite natural to me. I guess I found myself walking on my two hind legs more than on all fours one day and stuck with it.

Now I wonder how that same hospital is going to function under an invasion. Medical services will be delayed or strained. Despite the massive size and staff of the hospital, they're going to find themselves at max capacity once the injured started pouring in. Gunshots started firing outside, no way to tell if they were police or civilian. Matt got up and went into his bedroom, moments later he came back with a shotgun. It was a Remington Model 1100, covered in black matte paint and varnish. It looked like it hadn't been used in a long time but was recently cleaned. I couldn't tell if it had been fired at all. Matt sat down back on the couch and opened a box of shells, then began loading it.

Then we heard a car pulled up on the driveway.

When Matt cocked the shotgun, its distinctive sound made Bruiser jump. His eyes shot open, wider than a full moon in a clear sky. Matt peaked outside, and was relieved. "It's Emmy."

I could tell it was Emmett, he was grumbling swear words under his breath. Probably because his squad car got disabled and the police headquarters got swamped. Matt sat the shotgun on the couch, I reached over and made sure the safety was on. It was.

"Emmy," Matt called. "I'm here!"

"Dad?" I heard Emmett's voice croak. "You there?"

Matt pulled the broken door aside and Emmett stepped through. He looked like he been through a war zone. His hair was matted, his uniform tattered and roughed up, covered with grime and blood splatter. Matt almost hugged him when he realized what was on his clothes. "Emmy, what happened?"

"Business as usual until a crowd of pikachus broke down the back door," he said. "They came in like a swarm, there were so many mice pokémon that I swear I had to climb up on desks to avoid getting buried." He ran a hand through his hair and breathed. "But they somehow knew me, they were excited to see me. Just when they saw me they all went silent, and I mean ALL of them. They were all staring at me with those big black eyes of theirs and I was just standing on the desk with nothing but a baton and my service pistol."

"What happened?" he asked.

"They charged straight for me, ignoring everyone else. I went to town on them, smashing them back, even actually firing at them. They didn't seem to notice, didn't even flinch. I kept firing and knocking them back until I ran out of bullets, and then they brought me to the ground and pinned me in."

"How did you get out?" I asked.

"One of my co-workers had a high-pitched whistle, the kind that people can't hear but pokémon can detect it. When he blew it, all the mice pokémon covered their ears and screamed in agony. I made a break for it and jumped out the nearby window. I had to borrow a co-worker's squad car because the mice pokémon destroyed mine for some reason."

He shook his head and said, "They knew, they somehow knew me. But how?"

I think the last pokémon he wanted to see was me, because when he saw me his face dropped. "You," he said, pointing his finger at me, "You have something to do with this?"

"Andy's doing," I said.

The pieces started clicking together in Emmett's head, he raised his arms and lowered them. "Oh, fuck. I knew he was up to something, he came up on the wanted list in Unova. What is he doing?" He glanced at Volta, then at Bruiser. "Oh great, more mice."

Ray then came walking into the room, eating out a bottle of ketchup. Ketchup, wow, what an introduction, because if Emmett hadn't lost his shit before he did now.

"The fuck is that thing?!" He blurted.

Ray licked the ketchup off his lips and said, "Your worst nightmare."

I couldn't help but smile, trying not to laugh. That wasn't something he should have said to a man in distress, especially to a cop. Emmett turned to Matt, as if expecting an answer.

"It's a long story," he said. "Get cleaned up first, the smell will attract them."

"Yes, Dad. Of course."

 **. . .**

After ten minutes of showering, he came back wearing a white t-shirt and black cargo pants. He had his uniform and towel in his hands. Emmett walked into the kitchen and tossed them all into the washing machine, then started it up. He didn't bother sitting down, because all the seats were taken. He just stood there, pacing back and forth, and then he turned to me. "You're back."

I said nothing.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"

I said, "All those mice pokémon that raided your police department, those pikachus you gunned down. Those are the Dixierats, that's what they called themselves."

"Where do they came from?"

"Unova, thirty years ago a train derailed, which carried a few dozen or so mice pokémon. They inhabited the forest outside of the small hamlet of Dixie, repopulating, getting by until Andy showed up. He helped them breed and tend to their medical care until they got so big, that the URP got a whiff of them. So he moved them here."

"Where is he now?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know, he's yet to show himself."

"Then why did he help those things, why did he bring them here?"

I smiled, "They're my descendants, my family. All those pichus, pikachus, and raichus tearing up Faraday Island. All of them can trace their ancestry back to me and Polly."

"What?"

Matt said, "They're his blood relatives, Emmy. They came from the Faraday Pokémon Lab back in the day, Irvin's doing."

I said, "They know your scent because your son brought it to them, and you had some contact with one of their own. Mark's pikachu is a Dixierat."

"I knew there was something off from that pikachu, he said she was your great-granddaughter but wouldn't say where he got her."

"He got her out of a pikachu trap, almost got himself killed in breaking her out because the poachers arrived just in time to catch him in the act."

"And you knew this how?"

"I was there, Andy was there."

Emmy ran a hand through his hair, he went back into the kitchen and grabbed a chair and plunked it down. He sat down and said, "This is too much to take in."

"And that is just the beginning," I said.

Emmett glanced around, glaring at Ray in particular, who was draining the ketchup bottle's contents down his gullet. "And what is this, thing?"

"That's Rayovac," I said. "Ray for short, he's some sort of merger of all three mice variants. He evolved into this somehow. And to sum it up, he's my grandson."

"Pretty much," said Ray. He sucked the ketchup bottle clean and tossed it in the trash can. "We're quite close to Andy."

I said, "The raichu is his cousin, Bruiser. Go easy on him, he just lost his brother in the mess. They were close."

Emmett glanced at Bruiser, the raichu's eyes showed mercy. "Why are you called Bruiser?" Emmett asked.

Bruiser just shrugged, "I bruise too easily."

I patted Volta's back, "This here is his niece, Volta. Her parents were killed by poachers and I took her in and raised her myself."

"How did it go?"

"Horrible."

Volta said, "It went alright, it was letting me go that was the hard part."

"What happened?" Emmet asked.

I said, "I gave her to a trainer to give her a proper home and safety, the same trainer who I had to battle to get that pardon from Faraday Island's governor."

"Cabot? How is he?"

"He was gunned down outside the motel, Volta escaped and made it back to Dixie in one piece. I didn't know what happened to her at the time, all I know was that Nobark was responsible."

"Nobark, Irvin's scrafty? The same scrafty Mark brought home in that bio-pod?"

I nodded, "That's him."

"Oh, fuck. Mark told me what happened, said that he wandered into your affairs and got caught in the middle. We had an argument, it didn't go well. Especially the fact that he is temporarily housing these PRA terrorists in our home."

I frowned, "Those are Nobark's closest friends since Irvin, he brought them in after they were abandoned by their handlers. I sent them here so they can have a second chance at life. I already went through this with them. You're lucky I made sure your son came back home, I have to go bury mine."

Emmy's expression changed. "What?"

I looked away. "The oldest of the Dixierats was my own child, disfigured and neglected since the train derailment. He just passed yesterday, I know this because he died in my arms."

"How do you know he was your son?"

"Cause Polly told him what to look for and I knew it was my child when I saw him. Different story altogether, unrelated with Nobark and this mess. But I can safely say that everything is daisy-chained in some way."

Emmett thought for a moment, "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, he wasn't in pain when he passed. I believed it was the most happiest he'd been in his entire life."

Emmett sat there for another moment. "Go back to Cabot, did you find out who killed him?"

"Nobark gave the order, and Wotter and Smugleaf carried it out. Yes, the very same dewott and snivy whom Mark took him."

"He was very defensive of them, though they don't look so threatening."

"That because I broke them, crushed whatever pride they had because Nobark corrupted them. I broke Smugleaf's arm with brute strength alone, then tricked her into neutering Wotter."

"Why?"

"Cause I wanted to save them from Nobark, he would have killed them, me, and your son if he went full psycho. These bandages you see here, Nobark shot me when his dissociative personalities had enough."

Emmett asked, "So everything that had happened in Soho. Martial Law and reports of pokémon abuse, all that was because of Nobark?"

"Team Rocket may have played a role in making it worse, but it was all Nobark."

Emmett propped both hands under his chin and thought for a moment. "Nobark's an unrelated matter?"

"Unrelated, the Dixierats is Andy's doing. Nobark is my responsibility," I sighed. "I put him down in the end, he wanted to go down in a blaze of glory and wanted me to do the deed. He trusts me, he knows I'm there for him."

"Causing a massacre is his way of going down in a blaze of glory?"

"He didn't intend that, but I got it done. After that I took over his Pokémon Resistance Army and called them back, then sent them here. They follow Nobark, not his crazy radical version of Irvin's ideas. I guarantee Faraday Island will be dealing with not one major army, but two."

Emmett said, "Yes, I know about the invasion. Comms are jammed when I tried to radio in for backup."

"Andy's doing as well."

"How?"

"I don't know, I guess we gotta sit back and wait for him to finally show up."

Which he did by kicking down the fucking broken door. All heads turned toward the front door, revealing the despicable grandson of the late Irvin Westinghouse. Doctor Andrew Westinghouse came in, his white doctor's coat covered in dust and crap, downing what looked like a bottle of Vodka. "Woowiee!" He bellowed. "Did you see that shit?! Wooo! They move so fast!"

I palmed my face in disbelief.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter 12_

And I broke out laughing.

Andy was Andy, and will always be Andy. There was something about him that I liked since the day he was born. I wasn't as hard on babies and children as I was on adults. They don't know any better, for Andy he didn't know _anything_ better than whatever situation he was in. He didn't live at the farm, it was already crowded and there were already too many mouths to feed. Once a week he comes riding along on his casual cruising bicycle, whistling the _de facto_ Faraday Island anthem of that time. I think he was there to see me, but he never said so outright. The more times I thought back at Andy's past, the greater I realized he played reverse psychology on me. Westinghouses were always manipulative, and Andy knew how to push my buttons. Not to piss me off like Irvin and his children always do, but to befriend me. He would show up on any given day, his eyes would roll over me while doing business with his grandfather. Jack Stucky, the then janitor at Irvin's pokémon arena, told me they would go out into the wilderness to smuggle maple syrup or brew moonshine at that secret still of theirs.

Maple syrup, there was something about maple syrup that drives the culture of the island. People don't always use maple syrup for pancakes, they use it for all occasions, especially non-food ones. Fetishes, cravings, those odd stuff. I did a bit of research and discovered that Faraday Island is famous for its maple syrup, so famous that it has a syrup cartel spread out across the world to make sure the price remains stable. _"Without the syrup cartels,"_ wrote a long ago author inside a textbook whose name I cannot recall. _"Prices would skyrocket in the summer, since maple syrup can only be produced in the dead of winter."_

Andy would sometimes take a bottle of syrup home with him and return with a jar of moonshine. Irvin's first-born son operated a moonshine still since high school. He sells the moonshine illegally, often keeping several jars around the farmhouse. Andy would always bring moonshine with him. Not for Irvin to drink, but for his pokémon. I think moonshine may have contributed to speeding up Nobark's mental decline, I do recall that the old moonshine of the day used lead acid from car batteries to "spruce" up the flavor. I never had a taste for moonshine, I prefer the maple syrup more, and sometimes I would mix it into peanut butter in for my own desire.

Between the syrup runs and the laundering of untaxed pokédollars, Andy would come in and casually slip by me. Not directly. No, never directly. I would be sitting by on the couch and he would sit down next to me, then reach out and scratch my back. I couldn't resist, no pikachu could resist a good old back scratching. I think I liked him because he never puts me in the center of attention like Irvin does, and he had this enthusiasm that Matt didn't have. Sometimes he would slip some peanut butter by, just sit it in the pantry between daily visits. I would quickly take notice and gobble them up before nightfall. The more he made indirect contact, the more I opened my heart to him. And when he started talking _directly_ to me, he had me reeled in.

I guess he earned my affection and respect just for hitting the right notes. Irvin's pokémon took notice, Irvin himself would comment it and say nothing more. It was when Andy came in and save the day from my nair embarrassment that exposed his feelings toward me.

"Andy?" Emmett asked as the _doctor_ stepped through the door. "Doc, you alright?"

Andy sat the vodka bottle on the coffee stand by the couch. "Never better, Emmett. It was quite a party."

I got down and charged for Andy, he saw me and opened his arms. "Andy!"

Andy blinked, "Tes? Holy crap, you're back! I wondered where you were."

"In as much trouble as you are, because of Nobark."

"What happened to him?"

"He finally lost it."

Andy placed his hand on my head and rubbed it. "Ah, damn. How bad was it?"

"An entire city is burning down as we speak, you heard what happened in Soho?"

"No, didn't watch the news. I was busy trying to get all the Dixierats over here, it turned out better than I thought it would be."

Emmett sprang on his feet. "Better?! You crippled an entire _city_ with those pests! You could be charged for treason for this!"

"This is Tesla's own family you're talking about, this is Irvin's plan."

Emmett blinked, "What?"

I was just as confused, Irvin planned this? "Irvin's been dead for twenty years," I said. "How could he have planned this?"

Andy sat down beside Matt. "He told me his plans when I was ten years old, so this conspiracy has been going on for generations. He has been tracking the children you had with Polly and I was cataloging them in secret. Only a mere handful of people know this. Some of them are dead now, but not the people in charge to executing the plan."

I sat there for a moment, gave it some thought. "So this is Irvin's idea. The real reason why he took me to the pokémon breeder and meet up with Polly is because he wanted to build up an army of mice pokémon?"

"Much more than that. The scientists here wanted to create another you, so we're giving it to them. We'll let them cherry-pick the Dixierats, but more importantly, it so that you have a family to come back to when you're losing hope."

I said nothing.

"And as a cherry on top, he realized how screwed over you felt over the mess. He dug up your history, lied to you about some of it, so you can be in a position where you can finally get payback."

Emmett asked, "Crippling Faraday City and the rest of the Island?"

Andy shook his head. "No, taking it over. They've already made Tesla their mascot, even put in a flag. They made the roads to connect the towns on the Island and there's enough food scrap produced here to keep the Dixierats fed indefinitely. The people had already given their citizenship to him, now we're merely moving in the troops."

"How is it _we,_ Doc? How is it _we_?"

"The URP is going to daisy-chain all of my contacts, and since Tesla and Mark had gotten into something in Soho, you'll be a suspect. You have access to the police database and all the records in Faraday Island and Unova. Mark's a computer scientist, you put the pieces together."

Emmett sat there for a moment. "So he hacked the police database for his own personal use."

"Yes. But I think after Soho, I'll be expecting him to use the database more than just personal use."

Emmett placed his hands on his head and groaned. "I'm so going to kill him."

"Don't you think he knows that?"

"Know it?! He expects it! He's brought home former pokémon terrorists into our house, what he is going to do with them is beyond me." Emmett sat there for a moment, thought about it some more. "Crap, this is going to destroy my career for sure."

"Unless the Dixierats take control of the provincial government, simply march them into Electron and take over the Capitol Building, then sit on the politicians until somebody figures out what to do."

Matt shook his head. "Faraday Island has enough of Unova, they're demanding independence. There's already mass protests at Electron, even civil unrest." He turned to Andy. "This Dixierat invasion of yours, Andy, is going to split the old sores way open. Whenever we are involved or not, everybody here is in on it now. The World Government is going to take notice, Interpol will be sent in and they're going to be met by angry citizens. Police, military, civilians, everybody will fight back. I never thought I would live to see the day our homeland is being invaded, and I never expected my best-friend to instigate a war."

Everybody held their silence, I glanced at Ray and Bruiser. They just stared at me with mixed feelings. So is Volta, they all wondered what I was going to do.

I broke the silence. "The Island knows I'm here, especially the FPD. Several faces saw me come riding on Ray's back through the streets and recognized me. Rumors are going to spread, they're going to wonder if I'm responsible." I looked up at Andy. "Does Mark know about Irvin's plan, know anything about it at all?"

"I was trying to get a hold of him for a while, and when I finally got a hold of him on the phone days ago he was in no mood to talk. He told me he just had a rough ride in Unova and has to watch over some pokémon. But when I told him Irvin's plan, his face changed."

"What did he said?" I asked.

"He said he owes you a few favors, mainly because of Dixie and Soho. He views this whole debacle of you as a generational thing. To him, you're contract with Irvin means he shares the burden of handling you. In other words, he's taking Matt's place like how I took Irvin's place."

"You and Mark can't replace your grandfathers, you're all a load of shit."

Andy laughed. "We can't replace them, but we did inherit you. Duty's important to Mark, he recognized you as the linchpin to hold Faraday Island together. I've been disconnected from Faraday Island for far too long. If you want to know the whole picture, ask him."

Emmett said, "The Faraday Island General Assembly activated the selective service, signed with Governor Norman's blessings. Mark's been drafted, he's going to be deployed in a matter of days."

Andy said, "Way ahead of you. I bribed a few security officers and paid several hackers to come up with ways to jam all communications around Faraday Island. These are people Irvin knew in person for most of his life, they're well trusted and are hardcore fans of Tesla's battling days."

I asked, "And they're going along with this why?"

"They too, seek independence from Unova. And through you, Tes, you can make it happen."

I rested my head against Andy's chest, his stinking lab coat violating my nose. Andy rubbed that sweet spot on the back of my head, I rested my eyes. "He cared about me more than I thought he did."

"Pretty much."

"Andy, how come he didn't tell me? Didn't tell me how he really felt, and why he didn't tell me about his mad plan of his? It doesn't make any sense to me."

"He didn't want to give you any ideas. He knew all too well that you might outlive him, but he isn't sure."

"The Dixie plague, Faraday's sovereignty, all this bundled up in one big package for me to represent its people and pokémon."

"His way of doing things, his bundles are a lot better than most product warranties."

"Right, it's a lifetime guarantee." Then I asked, "You have any evidence of Irvin's original plan? Surely you were doubtful at first on how it would all work."

"It's in the thumb-drives Irvin kept in his old trunk. Everything is there, and from what I was told Mark had gotten a hold of it."

Matt said, "He made several copies of them. Gave one to me and to his friends, I never got the chance to look at my copy. I know some of the things in those thumb drives are personal and secret but not the official documents, such as tax records."

I sat up and said, "Then we better go find Mark and ask him what he's up to."

 **. . .**

Dixierats started showing up at our doorstep, they homed in to our scents like hounds. We didn't know they were here until they started knocking on the broken front door. They sounded like raichus and were calling for Andy. He got up and answered the door. Five raichus, three females and two males, all stood before him.

"Can you watch Matt's place while we're away?" he asked.

 _"Sure, Doc,"_ the raichu in the middle replied.

"I'll go out and pick out some food for you later, so right now we got some things to do. Make sure that this place doesn't get swamped, either by looters or other Dixierats."

 _"We got it covered,"_ said another raichu.

Andy turned to Matt. "They'll keep an eye on your place for you until we get your door fixed, just how did it break?"

I answered that question. "Ray thought it would be appropriate to break down the fucking door, like we need more fucking drama in this fucking movie of ours."

Ray said, "It stood no chance, I think I ripped out the wall around it as well."

Andy inspected the door frame. "Good thing you pointed that out, this dry wall is rotting and the wood around the frames has turned to mulch. A well-placed kick to the strike plate could break it in anyway."

Matt said, "This house is almost a century old, I guess it's time to get it gutted and rebuilt again."

I turned to Emmett, his eyes were overflowing with rage and confusion. "I'm sorry about Nova, Emmett. About your divorce and everything."

He shook his head. "She was born in Unova, not here. She always complained on how we have strict policies and laws, like it was telling us how to live and work."

"Even though it is the most inclusive government in the world."

"The license to marry, the license to have a child. The testing for genetic anomalies drove her nuts. It isn't you who cause our relationship to end, you were just the final straw."

"You ever talk to her?"

Emmett shook her head. "No, she put a restraining order on me. Faraday Island's government made it clear that if I were to even send her a letter or make a simple phone call, I would be arrested and charged for stalking. The punishment is severe enough to make my career terminal."

"Ouch."

Then Emmett added, "However, she cannot disown or put a restraining order on Mark. Under Faraday Island's copyright laws, you cannot disown any child you bore. He has the sole right to contact her because she is his parent and she brought him into the world. Unova may say differently but Faraday Island will happily give him information about her. I can relay any messages I want to him and he can pass it on to Nova without penalty."

"Does she still have Faradian citizenship?"

"No, she renounced it, but that won't stop Mark one bit."

I said, "I'll make it up to you, I'll give her a call and talk to her myself. If Mark can get her address and phone number, I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem."

"I don't know what she's been up to after twenty years, hopefully she still has feelings for you. She always liked you."

"I hope she has the same for you, I remembered how well your first date together went."

He smiled, "That suit always made my neck itch."

I stood up on the couch and said, "Knowing Mark, he would eventually take things to the next level. I bet you a hundred pokédollars that he's going to go straight to her house and knock on her door. How well it would go is anyone's guess."

"Judging by the fact that she left Mark with me weeks after he was born, I'm guessing there's going to be conflict."

I touched Volta's shoulder and turned to Bruiser and Ray. "Come on, guys. We better get this done"

Ray got off the couch. "Alright, lead the way."

I turned to Volta. "And Volta, I have somebody for you to meet once we get there. So keep your cool and let her do all the talking, I made sure she will."

"Yes, Tes."

Emmett got up from his kitchen chair. "I better get to City Hall and meet up with the mayor, I better let him know we are all in this together. Him and I, nothing about you."

I said, "Give him my best regards."

"Yes, I'll be sure I will when the rumors reach his desk."

We followed Andy outside, passing the raichu guards that are lounging on the front lawn. Andy's car, a navy blue Crown Victoria, was parked next to the street. I'm guessing it was rental. Emmett's borrowed cruiser was parked on the driveway. It was a new police interceptor model, more bulk and shine to it than the last model. He got in and started the engine, he flipped on the red and blue flashing lights and pulled out. Before he drove off, he rolled down the window and stuck his head out. "Andy," he said. "If I get the order to arrest you, I'll find you and personally kick your ass."

Andy laughed, "You better make sure you have sturdy shoes because my ass is made of steel!"

Emmett smiled, "You haven't changed at all. Oh, and Tesla?"

"Yes, Emmy?"

"It's nice to see you again."

"I love you too, Emmy."

And like that, he drove off. We waited till he was out of sight before we got into our car and drive over to his house. Ray got the front passenger seat because he's tall enough to reach the back floorboard. Everyone else got the back seat. I'm telling you that even with seatbelts, Volta and I are required by law to have booster seats since we both weigh below 20 kilograms. Except Bruiser, he's big enough to go without it. I don't think that is anyone's concern at this point, since the Dixierat invasion had put law and order on the sidelines.

We started seeing people returning home in shit-covered cars, feces and rub marks smeared all over the windows. Typical Dixierat behavior. Some people were washing their cars off on the driveway or were just leaving it outside. Some cars managed to escape the carnage, probably protected within their garages. However some people couldn't escape the Dixie Plague. I saw one pedestrian, a man wearing a jacket and blue jeans, was covered in piss and urine. He walked with his arms held out, his face showing disgust and grief.

Ray asked, "Why did the Dixierats swamp that car back at the HQ? How did you know they would do that?"

"I have no idea at all," I said. "Just a hunch I thought of."

Andy said, "Dixierats like to mark their territory or potential range, just like any other pokémon in the world. I suppose they caught a whiff of your scent and thought you own it. Say, what happened really?"

I told him.

"Damn, Tesla. The Dixierats really like you."

I smiled, "They just couldn't contain themselves."

Mark and Emmett's house was at the edge of the neighborhood, literally at the point where civilization meets the wilderness. When we approached the house, I saw no change whatsoever to its appearance. Mark's rust-bucket of a pickup wasn't on the driveway, must be in the garage. We parked on the driveway and approached the front door. Andy knocked three times, loud and hard. Mark probably realized that was a distinct knock, because he was at the door within seconds.

Mark Kissinger stood there by the doorway, wearing his National Guard uniform. His skin was less pale than I had last seen him but he still looked ten years older than I last saw him. He had a shotgun in his hands, a Mossberg, loaded. He took a moment to realize who we are, then he smiled, "Andy, great to see you again."

The two grandsons of Irvin and Matt shook hands. "I tried getting a hold of you," Andy said, "didn't know you had business with Tesla."

"Got some money and pokémon out of it, and an argument from my dad." Mark look down and saw me, his smile dropped. I just stared at him for a moment with tired, sad eyes. He said, "Despite all that danger to my life and well-being, and how my pokémon were almost violated, it is still great to see you, Tesla."

I said, "Good to be with you again."

Mark glanced at Ray and Bruiser, then at Volta. "Guess you brought home the family that is probably why my TV signal died."

"My fault," said Andy.

"Of course it's your fault, how can Tesla handle the workload in putting the pieces together." Mark turned around. "You best come inside, the place is crowded so please mind the smell."

Andy shut the door behind him as we walked inside. Mark's pokémon were sitting on the couch, nibbling on fiber bars. Their appearance hadn't changed much despite being just as fat as Volta. On the other couch was Wotter and Smugleaf Stucky. Wotter was a far cry from the bully he once was. The dewott sat at the end of his part of the couch, resting, his eyes lacking energy and vigor. Smugleaf sat at the other end. She looked like she had lost some weight, her eyes were just as depressed. The grass snake pokémon's signature knife and sheath were nowhere in sight. I'm guessing it was confiscated by Mark and probably crammed in storage somewhere. Woody sat at the corner of the room. The timburr hadn't changed much, his face was cool as he sat on the floor in a half-meditating trance-like state. He looked up, saw me and cracked a smile, but said nothing.

The pansear I met in the URP-occupied Fort Wernher was here. He sat on the floor against Smugleaf and Wotter's couch. His eyes stared straight ahead to the blue HDTV screen, watching the _No Signal_ words bounce around the screen. When he saw me he stood up. _"Sir, nice to see you made it in once piece."_

 _"Same for you,"_ I said in pokémon speech. _"At ease, bud."_

Mark's emolga, pikachu, and plusle and minun leaped off their couch and crowd around me, screaming with joy. _"Tesla,"_ the sky squirrel pokémon chirped. _"You're here!"_

Mark's pikachu, who was also my great-granddaughter, gave me a tight hug and licked my cheek. _"Tesla, I missed you!"_

I said, _"I missed you too sweet-heart."_

The only one here who wasn't happy to see me was Smugleaf. When she was aware enough to realize my presence, her eyes shot open. She tucked her braced arm by her side and leaped off the couch and over the coffee table. Kicking over empty pop cans and snack bags. Smugleaf tumbled to the floor, landed with a hard thud, then got back up on her skinny legs and made a beeline for the back door. "No!" she squealed. "No! No! Please, no!"

Ray went after her, the massive oaf dart across the room and used his massive frame to block Smugleaf's escape. He then Smugleaf down on the ground with his good arm, then peer into her eyes like the villain in a spy movie. "Ooh, a snivy." Ray sniffed Smugleaf's belly. "She's so minty!"

Smugleaf didn't squirm, just laid there, her eyes tearing up. "Please let me go!"

I took Volta's hand and walked up to Ray. "Ray, let her go! She's not a sex toy, you sick fuck!"

Ray chuckled and got off Smugleaf. "Sorry, it's hard to resist her eyes."

The snivy got back onto her feet and turned to face me. I reached out and touched her shoulder. "Smugleaf Stucky, this is Volta Westinghouse, Cabot Richardson's last pokémon. Do you have anything to say to her?"

Smugleaf blinked, she glanced at Volta, then back at me. Ray towered behind her, his eyes still marveling at the snivy's back. After a few seconds, Smugleaf broke into tears and wrapped her scrawny arms around Volta. "I'm sorry!" she cried. "I'm sorry, I didn't know! I swear, I didn't know! We didn't know! We were just following orders!"

Volta, being the gentle flower she was, hugged Smugleaf back. "There there," she said. "It's alright, I hear yeah."

The mouse pokémon sniffed snivy's neck and smiled. "You're right, Ray, she does smell minty."

When they let go, Ray reached out and scooped Smugleaf back up. This time he was gentle, not that Smugleaf cared. "There there," he said as he cradled her with his one arm. "I can keep you warm."

She looked at me and asked, "Who is he? What is he?"

I said, "That's Rayovac Westinghouse, or Ray for short. He's a rikachu, the _mutant_ mouse pokémon. If you ever wondered what is the limit to how many generations you can cross-breed. It ends with this."

Ray carried her back to the living room and sat down next to Wotter. The dewott craned his neck, curious of Ray. I walked up to him and asked, _"How are you doing, Wotter?"_

The dewott's tired eyes glanced at me. _"I feel tired, I can't move like I used to."_

I glanced at Wotter's legs. Bandages covered much of his groin and thighs, covering the damage Smugleaf had done to him back in Fort Wernher. _"Is it healing?"_

 _"Healing well, not that it mattered."_ He rested he head on the arm of the couch and sighed. _"I miss Nobark, wish I had the chance to say goodbye."_

 _"You were there when he was buried?"_

He nodded. _"I cried when the dirt was shoveled over his small casket."_

 _"Wish I was there to bury him myself."_

 _"Nobark would trust you to bury him alive, he spoke so highly of you that I didn't realize how close you too were until I saw your friend's resting place."_

Smugleaf said in pokémon speech. _"All those tombstones with pokémon under them, were they your friends?"_

I said, _"From another time, seen them hatched and die. Now it feels like I'm the last one left."_

Volta and Bruiser walked up to the cooler beside the coffee table. They opened and found Mark's soft drinks. Without asking, they pulled out several cans and popped them open. Mark didn't say anything, he just stood there by the window with Andy, watching for trouble.

The pansear turned to me and said, _"I had trouble at first coming here, but I managed to hide onboard a yacht in a storage cabinet. When I got here I head straight to this Mark guy just as you said. It took a bit of convincing, but he wasn't happy about it."_

 _"Was he ready to shoot you?"_

 _"I think he wanted to, just how can I blame him?"_

 _"Sad to hear what's become of Fort Wernher,"_ said Woody. _"I really wanted to see how those computers work."_

Smugleaf said, _"I just wish Bubbles was here with us."_

I said, _"It wouldn't even be much of a happy ending if she's here, you know. Most of us here have one thing in common, we lost our trainers. Either they were killed, betrayed us, or ran their natural course in life. Now we're under the mercy of the world, and it's changing."_

Mark said, "I've heard about the riots in Soho, I also heard you were caught in it."

I realized the question was directed to me. "Yes, I was. How did you know?"

"Some old army buddies were there, they saw you get shot with a bean-bag round in your ass when you tried to escape from police custody. I was worried, I wish I was there to bail you out."

"I appreciate the help, but your pokémon need you more than me."

Mark turned to me and said, "The Island found out that you've been arrested by the URP, someone leaked and now everyone is raging hell. The independence movement is now underway. Unova-based bureaucracies were attacked, raided. Police didn't intervene, they just stood by and watch the protesters carted boxes of documents and equipment away. Unova politicians were hounded, some were exiled, others weren't so fortunate. Unova's prime minister is warning the Island about sanctions, Governor Norman responded by going on national television by saying, 'Come and stop us.'"

"What's your role in all this?"

Mark pressed his hand against his embroidered surname on his uniform. "I've been drafted, now I'm expecting to be deployed at any time. Now I can't get that call because comms are down."

"You're ready to fight for Faraday's revolution?"

"I was trained for this since I was a kid, and since I'm fresh from the second invasion of Soho I've never been ready for war."

I said, "Mark, I'm not going to lie to you. Once you go out in the field, there's a chance you may never come home. The bond between you and your pokémon is too great. They're not going to adjust to a life without you, I know this because I've seen what happens first-hand when a trainer suddenly departs. In fact, you've seen what happens to pokémon when they had lost their trainers. They go mad, Mark. They aren't as adaptable as humans are."

Mark said, "I don't have a choice in this, somebody has to defend their home. The brass has _zero_ tolerance for deserters, they're lucky they aren't branded as traitors."

"I didn't hear much about treason in the Faradian military."

"That's because it's classified."

Mark walked up to the couch and reached underneath and pulled out a laptop. It was a thin technician's notepad, very battery-efficient and very powerful. He opened up the lid and woke it up. "While I was getting ready to leave Soho, I stopped by at the police station to see what was left. The whole place was trashed and abandoned. Feeling entitled, I walked right in and downloaded whatever I could from one of their servers that escaped damage. I just downloaded and decrypted the files onto my computer to see what's inside."

"What did you find?"

"Pretty much every reason to back up your word on not to go to war."

Mark changed the channel on his TV and got up. "Here, might as well show what I have on the TV here. With the comms down, I don't have to worry about being discovered by government surveillance."

"Is there any chance at all?"

"No, of course not. I'm just paranoid, Tes."

I nodded. "I can understand."

Mark grabbed a HD cable from behind the TV, which was already connected to the back. He plugged it into his laptop and pressed a few buttons. The computer's desktop appeared on the TV, revealing . . . a purple background showing my outline.

"Fuck you, Mark."

Mark chuckled, "Tesla, for everyone's sake keep your temper cool. You already got people and pokémon alike having trust issues with you, how would Polly react if she catches you breaking Smugleaf's arm?"

I feel several nerves in my fertile brain overload and pop. Not from anger, no, for some reason that didn't flare. Hearing Polly's name caught my attention, pushed my personal prejudices aside and unearthed the pichu within me. The world, time, the universe, and all my history that was weaved in between, had stopped for a few seconds. "What?"

Mark smiled, "You know, I've been holding this card days after you left Faraday Island. Irvin didn't have the resources I have to track Polly down, to track your parents and siblings down. No wonder he lied to you, he didn't want you to know that he failed."

I said nothing.

"I know what had happened to Polly. I know where Polly went, and I know where Polly is. Not only am I going to explain how I pinpointed her location, have I had some intel on her days since she last saw you?"

Mark reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph. "This was taken around the time after Irvin had passed away. This isn't her current picture, but there's no doubt she has served her purpose."

He showed me the picture. My eyes bulged. That was her alright, her fur was whiter and her body was puffy from age but her snout and ears hadn't changed. Her eyes were soft as I remembered them, and she was smiling.

But that smile wasn't from joy.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter 13_

Mark had done his homework alright. He obviously learned some vital lessons during his Unova mishap. He'd been trying to get the upper hand over me since our last conflict on Faraday Island. How much did he learned about me? My weaknesses? My interests? I hadn't changed much in the past fifty years, but now I was starting to break down. Mark was using his ace in the hole and I was caught off-guard. I saw how he planned it would go. I would be demanding him to hand over the picture and we would get into the heated argument, it would end with me attacking him and Ray would risk his well-being to pull me off of him. What do I have over Mark? Nothing. Zip. Matt's too old to help anymore and Emmett had failed in cracking Mark's secrets. Andy was in the same boat on Mark's side but would take no action. The Dixierats, including the ones with me, had no idea how to handle Mark. His pokémon will defend him no matter what. The remaining PRA leadership would care less to help me or didn't even wanna be near me. I was on my own.

The smartest thing to do is to pull myself out of this situation, don't play Mark's game. I always hated drama and I wasn't going to turn this situation into a soap opera. So I turned my back to him and walked toward the front door.

Only to be stopped by Ray before I even got near it. "Tes, don't."

 _"Ray,"_ I said in pokémon speech. _"Please, let me leave. I'm not playing his game."_

 _"It's not his game to play,"_ Bruiser said, also in pokémon speech. _"He knows where Polly is, you're just going to throw that opportunity away?"_

I backed away from Ray and pinched my nose. "It's too good to be true, even if he is telling the truth."

"You're saying I'm bluffing?" Mark asked.

I shot a look at you. "I believe you, but you expect to hand Polly to me and we all be merry? She has never, and I mean _never_ , been exposed to the outside world. She has photophobia, agoraphobia. You pull her out of the world she knows, she risks slipping into shock!"

"We have Andy to help us with that, or you have a better idea?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't. You can convince her, no doubt about it. Your pikachu will be all the convincing she needs. But pulling her out of that environment is like ripping the plug to a life support machine. She never saw the sun, Mark."

My counterattacked worked, he lowered the picture but he had another card up his sleeve. He turned to Andy and said, "Do you have any information on Tesla's children?"

"How could I not? A lot of the Dixierats descend from a handful of Tesla's kids, one of them is the elder Dixierat, but that was before the train ride to freedom."

I wasn't surprised, I didn't even care at this point. I have a shit-load of children but only one Polly. I turned back to Mark and said, "The elder Dixierat is dead, Mark. He passed away in my arms."

"Oh, were his final hours peaceful?"

"Yes, it was."

"Would you wanna be there when it is Polly's time? If she loves you as much as you think she does, then she would risk her own life to find you. But if what you said is true, then her fear is keeping her locked into her cage."

He held the photo up to me, waved it. My eyes were locked on to it. My frontal lobe told me not to take the bait, but the pichu inside me leaped. I sprinted and jumped, Mark pulled it away and caught me with his other arm.

"Please," I said. "Give it to me!"

Mark cradled me in one arm and waved the picture above me. "Promise me one thing first?"

"Is it something stupid?"

"No, not this time. Tesla, Polly may know your soft side but she doesn't know your crimes. Here you are, saying that my pokémon wouldn't adjust to a life without me, and yet you plucked my emolga out of my arms in the middle of the night right under my nose. But before that, you sent them to the Pokémon Hospital the first time we met. And before that, you incapacitated and maybe even killed countless pokémon and their trainers for just invading your privacy for the last twenty years. I am not accusing you of all this, but these are things you gotta confess to Polly to or she would hear it another way. She trusts you, she doesn't need to hear it from anybody else but you."

I reached up for the photo but couldn't reach it. I swore, "Fuck, you're right. She doesn't really know me, but then again I don't really know much about her besides her fears. I don't know what is her personal interests, or if she has other close friends by her side."

"Chances are she's more alone than you, maybe she has some contact with other pokémon but that's it."

I reached out for the picture again, but he pulled it away. Now I was starting to cry. "Please, it still hurts after all these years."

"Tell that to all the pokémon who were sent to that hospital."

"I didn't want to do all that, I'm not a fucking conscript like you, Mark. I was raised to love, not to fucking start a massacre in the name of your shitty rock! I did enjoy killing all those pokémon during that attack in Soho, but you did, I saw it in your eyes! You're a fucking psychopath, just like every fucking human being on this fucking Island!"

Mark held up the photo for a brief moment, then smiled, "I'm glad we understand each other."

He placed the photo in my tiny hands and I hugged him, he rubbed my back as I broke down crying. "There there," he said. "We got you."

I muttered, "I need a stiff drink."

Mark said, "Andy, do you have any Valium on you at all?"

Andy said, "More than enough, here."

 **. . .**

I didn't get any beer, but I got herbal green tea instead. The tea tasted horrid without sugar or sweetener, but I drank it anyway. Andy gave me the Valium tablets Mark had requested, the dosage were fit for a creature my size. I popped them in my mouth and washed them down with the green tea. I shot a look at Mark, he was fixated on his computer, pulling up the stolen data. A tiny ember burned inside me, I made a mental note to hit him later.

The Valium began to work its magic. That ember fizzled out and my head cooled. The tea tasted better, when Andy asked me if I wanted more I told him to jack it up with some sugar.

"That would rot your teeth, Tesla."

"Andy," I said. "My teeth are too far gone. How is it that you let those Dixierats eat all sorts of crap and yet only worry about my health?"

Andy thought for a moment. "Oh, now I remember."

He went into the kitchen and brewed some more, then came back and handed it to me. The green tea tasted much better. Mark had the pictures up and ready and began displaying them on the TV. They weren't pretty. Pokémon of all shapes and sizes were brutally beaten, possibly killed by police. Some of the photos were video stills, showing police taking heavy action regardless of the size of the pokémon. Small pokémon were easily crushed, larger ones got a worse punishment. One photo after another told the same story. Bloody pokémon, dead pokémon, piles of dead and dying pokémon. It reminded me of poachers, except I was looking at the law.

"Damn," said Ray. "How come they arrested you, Tesla, rather than otherwise?"

I said, "Cause one, I took care of their problem. Two, it wasn't them who arrested me. Not anymore."

Once the Valium was in full force, I stopped talking altogether and dozed into a stupor. Andy took my empty cup as I just lay there, staring at the ceiling. Now I remembered why I went into exile, why I did all that shit for the next twenty years. I felt like I was being used, and now I felt like I was being used again. I tossed the thought around my mind, then glanced at the TV. More photos of Soho's miserable nightmare. I rolled and faced the back cushion of the couch and shut my eyes, and napped.

 **. . .**

When I awoke an hour later, things have cooled down. Ray and Bruiser were chatting to Nobark's PRA. None of them were showing suspicion, which was a good sign. Smugleaf was still in Ray's arms, curled up by his side, hugging his furry flabby flame. Volta was right there beside me, her head poking over the couch, her eyes staring at mine.

"You look so peaceful when you sleep," she said.

"I have my moments," I said.

Volta climbed up on the couch and cuddled by my side, then proceed to groom my fur. "I can see your skin," she said. "You've lost a lot of fur."

"Getting old sucks."

I closed my eyes and let her do her work, I couldn't remember the last time anybody groomed me. Showers really helps remove debris and loose hair from my fur, but grooming is more accurate for getting the last bits and pieces. She knew where my sweet spots are, I felt her removed something stuck to my skin. Loose fur, scabs, skin flakes, I don't really know for sure.

Volta said, "You should eat something, Tes. You're mostly bone."

"I remember a time when I wasn't."

Volta clasped her hands around the fur of my back and massaged them. She was rough, but it was needed. My muscles were stiff as a board, getting them broken up was a major relief to me. I pulled Polly's picture out from the cracks of the couch and looked at it. She looked quite comfortable for her life inside the breeding program. Obviously she is now barren, retired. Was her handler willing to give her up? I placed the photo back within the cushions and closed my eyes, letting Volta do her magic.

I asked, "How do you know how to massage?"

"You taught me."

"I did?"

"Yes, by grooming my own fur."

I thought for a moment. "Odd, I don't remember."

Volta placed the palm of her hand against my shoulder blade and clasp the other on my shoulder. "But Ray taught me this."

She tugged my joint in a certain way that I felt my shoulder give, letting out a loud _pop._ The sound, followed by the relaxing of its associated tendons, made me purr. Volta then rolled me onto my belly and did the same for the other shoulder. This one was louder, the tendons eased and my muscles relaxed. "Ooh," I muttered.

I felt Volta's hands trace down my back and clasped my butt, I raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Ooh, you have serious muscle here." Volta then grabbed my thigh, then pressed her knee against my butt-cheek. "There we go."

I felt my pelvis cracked apart and loosen up. I rest my chin against the couch with my forehead against its arm. Damn, those bones were stuck back in place by staples. I think she pushed them back into their natural position, or popped them so they're more flexible. Whatever's the case, my legs felt relieved. Volta grabbed the other leg and popped its joint too, then somehow popped the base of my tail.

"Okay," I said. "You did well, but there is one thing you have yet to do."

"And what is that?"

I sat up. "Here, let me show you."

I had Volta turn her back to me, then clasped both hands around the crown of her head. Just like humans, pikachus have sutures in the top of their heads. This helps the cranium flex against blows. Sadly, my own sutures had fused because of old age, but Volta's crown is still fragmented. I grasped her crown, and with a little bit of love, twist it.

Her crown popped, Volta's eyes went big. "Wow!" she said. "It feels like my brain got bigger!"

"Yup," I said. "Not sure how it works but it should help relieve the muscles around your head."

I got down from the couch and walked up to Mark's laptop, Volta crawled up beside me and watched as I opened up the web browser. Sure enough, a _Server Not Found_ message appeared on the screen.

Around that moment a siren started going off outside. I know that siren, it was a Retro Thunderbird. A turbine siren using a specialized fan to create the sound. It had been installed thirty years ago and was tested every first Tuesday of the month. But this wasn't the first Tuesday of the month, and the pitch was slightly different. Instead of a constant tone that normally warns the populace of an impending natural disaster, the siren was rising and falling like tidal waves. That is not a tone any Faraday Island resident wanna hear. That pitch means of an impending attack or invasion of the Island. Someone had finally gotten to the controls of that siren and set it off.

Mark came back into the room, clutching his Mossberg in his hands. He walked up to the window and peaked through the blinds. "Dixierats," he said. "Lots of them."

"How many?" I asked.

"A dozen."

I said, "The door's locked?"

Mark opened up the coat closet by the door and pulled out a door knob jam, then wedged it between the door knob and the floor. "If it isn't, it is now."

Mark's pikachu's eyes lit up. _"They're here?!"_

I said, _"Don't get your hopes up, girl. Even though they're your relatives doesn't mean they wouldn't swamp you."_

Her smile slowly dropped, as if something had clicked in her brain, possibly recalling something that gives her the chills. She jumped down from the couch and ran upstairs, she got halfway up before pausing to catch her breath, then walked the rested of the way.

I couldn't help but chuckle, "Figures."

Mark looked up the stairs and asked, "What was that about?"

Ray said, "Dixierats have a high sex drive, especially for those who are chubby. If they sniff her out, they will swamp her, no question's asked."

Ray said, "That sums it up, however that doesn't mean all of them wanna mate."

We heard the Dixierats start rubbing against the door. Mark clutched his shotgun. "What should I do, do I shoot them or not?"

I said, "Mark, you can shoot all of them as you like but they are still going to come pouring in. They know they're in the wrong, they know they're intruding onto somebody's personal space. However, they know they can pull it off because they have the numbers and the muscle to bring you down. Once they got you pinned, they're going to move onto your pokémon to execute their vendetta."

Smugleaf got out of Ray's good arm. "How about I go out there and see what they want?"

I raised an eyebrow. "They stink, Smugleaf. Not to mention they're not picky on who they cross."

Mark asked, "Why are they so broody then? Why do they wanna mate so much?"

Ray said, "They need to multiply to have the numbers, not to mention they were bred to have such traits. We go out there, or if they come in here. It's going to be a gang rape party."

I said, "They won't if I get to them first."

I walked up to the door and turned to Mark. "Open up the door, let me handle them. If any of them try to get pass me, you know what to do."

Mark nodded. "And what if I fail?"

"Then Ray here is going to scoop them up and toss them out."

Mark unlatched the deadbolts, then unlocked the doorknob. "Just so you know, Andy's not here. He went back to my Grandpa's house to pick up a few things so he can't help us."

"Then we'll sit on the Dixierats and wait till he comes back."

Mark removed the door jam and cracked open the door. I stepped out into a crowd of Dixierats. The smell was just as overwhelming as their constant chatter. A few dozen voices banter under multiple conversations, mixing into an orchestra of constant noise. When I approached, they all just shut up at once. All marble eyes turned toward me. I just stood there and returned the stare. I think this was probably how it happened with Emmett: The calm before the storm.

I spoke in a pokémon voice. _"So what kind of trouble did you get into this time?"_

 _"Tesla!"_ they all chirped at once.

Mark shuts the door as the Dixierats hobbled around me. They proceed to lick my face, rubbing their heads against my body. I just held my hands up and let them come in. I sat there with a neutral expression and waited till they were done.

 **. . .**

Andy showed up twenty minutes later, by then I was getting bored. The Dixierats that congregated around me had dozed off and were lying all over Mark's tiny-ass lawn. A few Dixierats remained aware, continuing to brush their bodies against me, occasionally licking me, while we listened to the distant wail of the attack siren. When Andy approached, the Dixierats weren't excited, but they were happy to see him.

"You seem to be having fun," he said as he approached.

I said, "They would've bothered us if we just ignored them."

I pushed the Dixierats away and Mark opened the door, we both got inside and left the Dixierats outside. "Did you find what you were looking for?" Mark asked.

Andy held up the green drawcord bag I carried with me into Faraday Island, along with Volta's pink handkerchief. "Yes, I got everything."

Andy sat the green drawcord bag on the coffee table, then handed the pink handkerchief to me. Volta crawled right up to me and blinked when she saw I had her handkerchief. "Hey, you got it!"

I wrapped the handkerchief around Volta's neck and tied a gentle knot into it. "Here you go, tubby. Don't lose it again."

Volta blinked. "Tubby?"

Ray couldn't help but laugh, Bruiser nudged him hard in the side and he shut up.

Mark got back on his laptop and continued to surf the files. "There's enough shit in here to create a firestorm, there's no telling how far the corruption goes."

The attack siren wired down and died, letting out one final merciful wail before going silent. Volta gave me a hug and gently bit my ear, I said, "You think there's going to be a trial, Mark?"

"I don't know, much of the Soho PD's leadership had died and those who are left were fired. This will be archived at best, maybe shelved until a judge would finally get around to reviewing the case." Mark glanced upstairs. "I don't think she's going to come down, I'm guessing she's still scared."

"Why not go up there and fish her out?"

"Yeah, I should do that."

Mark got up and climbed up the stairs. I heard him say something, followed by silence. Eventually he came back down with his pikachu in his hands. Scratching her back, kissing her forehead. She was crying, her face was buried into Mark's shoulder. "Poor thing," he said as he sat back down on the couch. "Just why is she afraid of her own family?"

"Because she made a claim on you, and only you can handle her. The Dixierats, however, won't realize that until later on. So for right now, she stays with you."

Mark sat her down by me and she crawled up to me. "She has her own fears, that's for sure."

 _"Don't let them get to me,"_ she whimpered into my ear. _"Please, don't let them."_

Volta crawled up to Mark and rubbed her head against his side. He scooped her up and held her with both hands. "I'm guessing there will be more of you, and I'm telling you now that you're not replacing my pikachu anytime soon."

Volta asked, "What, you're not going to scratch my back?"

Mark gently shook her up and down, then hugged her. "Yup, she's a tubby alright. Very tubby."

I watched as Mark laid Volta on her back and proceed to scratch her belly. She cocked her head back and awed as Mark scratched his nails up and down Volta's torso. Mark's pikachu crawled up to Volta and sniffed her armpits, then began rubbing her head against Volta's. They giggled and laughed as Mark adored them. I sat there and watch them fiddle for a moment, then glanced at Andy. "Uh, Andy. You have a moment?"

"Sure, Tes."

"Let's head out the back, there's something we need to discuss."

Andy scooped me up and he walked out toward the back door. Mark's backyard was just as unremarkable as I had remembered, but there was something different. An oak sapling had sprouted in a little mound of dirt just a meter away from the cinderblock fence. I stared at that for a moment, then glanced out toward Faraday City's skyline. Car alarms were going off, followed by burglar alarms and occasional car honking. When Andy shuts the back door, I said, "First of all, you are just like Irvin. You have his likeness and his hairstyle, even your glasses are just like his."

"Family tradition, I suppose."

I said, "I don't know how to thank you, Andy, for watching over my own branch of the family. You caught me in the dark with dedicating your life to helping these Dixierats, and even surprised me more by moving them here."

"Irvin was planning it a few days before you met Polly for the first time," said Andy. "He knew that he couldn't pull it off. His pokémon needed him, you needed him. So he tasked me to handle his part of the plan."

"Then why didn't he tell me?"

"You weren't ready to be told, and even if you were you weren't in a position to take on such an endeavor."

My ears dropped. "Because of my temper."

Andy scratched my back and I rested my head against his chest. "I knew how to work you, Irvin did not. Did you figure that out yet?"

I nodded, "Yes. Irvin was direct, you weren't."

"Correct, obviously you never liked attention."

"It was all for the wrong reasons, so now I better make it right. This Island is going to raise up the City of Agartha, the government is going to wonder who's responsible. You and Mark are too deep in the shadows to take responsibility, you two won't get the support I would. So if the FPD tracks you or Mark down and brings you into questioning, or worse, arrests you two. State your rights to remain silent and ask for a notepad and pencil, then right my name on it. Nothing more."

"You're asking me to put the blame on you."

I shrugged. "You're doing this for me, so I better take the fall. I had enough with this rock anyway and I have the desire to screw it over. But I don't need to do anything, the Dixierats are doing it for me."

Andy glanced out toward the skyline. "I didn't know Mark had tracked down Polly, I hadn't had contact with him for some time."

"Course you didn't, you don't have the resources Mark has. I have a good bullshit detector and I know Mark isn't lying, which is why I lost my shit back there."

"You just don't like Mark."

I said, "We both met on bad terms, it's hard to bring myself to like him. I have no doubt he cares about me, and I have no doubt he will support me no matter what. He's just like to get under my skin, wind me up like a toy and set me off. I'm sensitive, Andy. I don't like being teased."

Andy pressed his nose against the top of my head and sniffed it. "I know, Tesla. Why do you think I pulled you out of Matt's wife's hands after the nair incident?"

I sat up and stared up at the sky. "I'm no legendary pokémon, I was born in the deep Viridian Forest of Kanto. I am not a citizen of this country, nor do I have any sense of what is home. So if I am going to take up permanent residence again, I have to find what is left of my kids." I looked up at Andy. "You really know where my children are?"

Andy said, "I'm not going to lie to you, Tes. Most of them didn't make it. Not from stupid accidents you always dread, they just ran their course and expired."

"Old age."

"Yes."

"But what really killed them?"

Andy didn't have an answer for that, his face went blank, and I knew he was trying to come up with an educated guess. So I asked, "But what did you find of my children who are still alive?"

He smiled, "A mere handful had found their way into the care of dedicated trainers. From what I could tell, they are living happy lives and are now in retirement."

"Any specific children we should look at?"

Andy nodded, "Yes, there's one I managed to pin down, one that I know for certain. His serial number is FIW-00001P, and yes, this one is a male?"

"Who is he?"

Andy shrugged, "His trainer called him 'Wheels'. Not sure why anyone would call a pikachu Wheels, maybe because the trainer's occupation is a race car driver. But what I do know is this. Tesla, this pikachu is your first born son."

 **. . .**

I met Polly roughly half a century ago. She was only a few weeks old at the time, a fresh pikachu. I was 53. It was weird, because I was old enough to be her grandfather, or great-grandfather. The breeder had mixed feelings about me donating my sperm to him. True, that breeding later will create offspring that will live longer, but may result in weird-looking pokémon. Irvin reminded the breeder that not all pokémon are perfect. It didn't take much argument to convince them. They were the ones who wanted my genes, who wanted my power. So we struck up a deal. I offered my DNA to produce viable offspring for future experiments and projects and we get a good lump of cash. I wasn't so affectionate about this contract, because it didn't account for one thing: I was forbidden to make contact with the offspring, period.

I forgotten how soft my heart was until I saw her. Polly, the pikachu with droopy ears and slightly long snout. I think it was love at first sight, because my temper and frustration was thrown out the window every time I saw her. I recall that Polly was not much of a talker, and has poor eyesight, due to the fact that she was kept in low lighting and dark places. "To keep her calm," the breeder had said. She was calm alright. Very calm. No sudden and jerking movements, just going with the flow. Since she was a lab rat, she had this disinfectant smell to her. I never knew any other pokémon before and since that was so clean.

I was given a bath before and after each meeting. These little moments go just about as you expect. A lot of cooing, a lot of aweing, and after some yoga moves we drop. Wash, rinse, repeat after a few months had passed. I was there when she laid her first pichu egg for the first time, I felt proud about becoming a father. I got a brief moment where I get to hold the egg. The moment lasted just a few seconds, but I felt that I had created a family.

They took the egg away from me and I was barred from ever seeing her while she was pregnant. They didn't ask why, but I always thought that they were trying to control her. Technically they weren't trying to control her, they _did_ control her. They had her hooked on Valium and all sorts of drugs. "To keep her calm" as they had said.

I never felt this close to finding Polly before in my life, but she must wait. Our child has the right to know his father, I was more than eager to find out where he is.

"Where is he," I asked Andy.

He said, "Viridian City, Kanto."

Viridian City? That's not far from Pallet Town, Ash Ketchum's hometown.

That's not far from my old home either.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter 14_

Something interesting happened that night. The familiar skyline of Faraday City's glass skyscrapers always glowed in a blueish-white light, which had a light frequency similar to that of the sun. I remembered a time when Faraday City was at near darkness when I first arrived here at the age of twenty-two. By the time I was forty, Faraday Island grew brighter. By the time I was fifty, the first primitive skyscrapers went up. The first blackout of Faraday City revealed the stars for the first time in ages. Faraday Island was famous for its clean air and environment, so we had no problems seeing the Galatical plain. For just one night, the whole city just stopped, only to resume its natural daily business the following morning. I watched the first glass skyscrapers go up by the end of my Westinghouse years and the whole sky got brighter. It was so bright, I couldn't tell if it was day or night.

The second blackout of Faraday City wasn't really a blackout, more like a brownout, partial loss of power. Every building in the city installed a trickle-charge battery power and renewable energy infrastructure, so blackouts never happen. Each building powers itself, everything inside and only inside. All the buildings though were still connected to a grid, if one building produced too much energy, the excess is sold out to the public grid and that building receives a nice sum of money from the Faradian Department of Energy. I sat there in Mark's backyard, watching the skyline with the others. It used to be that every building in the city was lit up like a Christmas tree, now skyscrapers were going dark and black. For the first time in their twenty years of life, most of these skyscrapers have gone to sleep. The only skyscrapers that still had light in them were the vertical farms. Their lights come from thousands of ultraviolet lightbulbs that are hooked up to a different circuit. The cylindrical buildings glowed a soft purple within the darkened skyline.

It was a curiosity to non-residential pokémon. Volta, Bruiser, and Ray knew it wasn't supposed to be like this, but the city still had enough beauty to be mesmerizing. The PRA troops with us didn't have much of an opinion. Smugleaf didn't show much expression, the pansear didn't really care. Woody found it odd, as he himself was a utilitarian, but didn't give much of his opinion. Wotter didn't bother coming outside, he stayed on the couch, assuming he had went to bed for the night.

Only Andy, Mark, and Mark's pokémon found it unsettling. They had lived in Faraday City long enough to be used to the light pollution. Despite Andy's age, he was too young to remember the blackout. Save for the brief stint in Fort Wernher's own darkness, Mark had never experienced a blackout. He looked out toward the city, his own home, the look on his face told me he felt disturbed.

"The Dixierats are draining the city's energy systems," he said.

Andy said, "They're mice pokémon, they're pests, they're attracted to electricity."

We found out after the mess had ended that the people who operate those buildings had deliberately shut down the power. The Faradians quickly figured out that the Dixierats were draining any source of electricity they sensed. The Dixierats were smart enough to realize that the whole energy system was independent. Being the little pests they are, some _de facto_ Dixierat leaders led their little bands of Dixierats into these buildings and cut the power off themselves. Not so they can drain the batteries without causing a surge in the circuits, but for "shock" value. Just to show who is in charge. For the towns that could see Faraday City, if they hadn't figured out what was happening before, they do now.

I had no doubt the whole rock had figured it out when the substation exploded. I knew what it was when the blast ripped across the sky, because I had blown up transformers before. When the transformers started to blow, only Smugleaf was merely startled as she had seen a transformer blown up by my own hand. Everyone else was caught off-guard. Volta let out a squeal and grabbed my arm when the shockwave plowed above us. Bruiser and Ray yelped. Ray's eyes started rapidly blinking, the explosion may had triggered another schizophrenic episode. Bruiser rubbed his chest, his heart wasn't as hardy as it used to be. Andy and Mark stepped back as Mark's pokémon screamed. The next thing we knew was bright blue plasma flashed into the sky, then all the street lights went out.

"What happened!?" Volta cried.

Mark said, "Faraday Island got more electricity than it needed. Due to the communications jam and the cyber-attack, the central computer at Faraday Island's Hydrogen Power Plant didn't detect the anomaly. So one of Faraday City's transformers couldn't take the surplus. Normally they would automatically shutdown to avoid catastrophe, the cyber-attack crippled its safety protocol and caused it to explode."

Then another transformer exploded, this one was farther away so the blast wasn't as strong, but it had enough force to kill more lights. I wasn't sure what to make of the transformer explosions, my mind was on other things at this point.

We all went back inside, I was getting tired. It was time for bed. Smugleaf kept rubbing her good arm, I noticed she had been shivering after five minutes of being outside. Of course, she was a reptile. Reptiles are cold-blooded. I glanced at Ray and he returned the attention. I nodded my head toward Smugleaf. He turned to her and saw how cold she was, Ray scooped Smugleaf up with his good arm. Smugleaf was still shaking in fright, but soon calmed down when she was within Ray's grasp. I guess she was building trust with Ray despite his huge appearance.

Emolga got down from Mark's shoulder as he headed for the utility closet. "I'm going to cut the power off to my house in case those transformers try to muck up the electronics in the house. Don't worry, the house has an UPS built into the breaker box. We have all the energy we need to get us through the night."

He opened up the breaker box and flipped a switch, the lights flickered to signify the house was now on its own power. "Any idea where you want to sleep, Andy? The guest bedroom is already taken, I think my dad may not come home tonight since he's busy, so his bed may be unoccupied."

Andy said, "You have a sleeping mat?"

"A cot, actually."

"I'll sleep on that. Ray and Bruiser are getting old, they need the bed more than I do."

I said, "Andy, you're older than them and I had spent nights sleeping in holes for the past twenty years. Ask them if they want to sleep in a bed or not."

Bruiser shrugged. "I'm used to sleeping on the couch, it's kinda my thing."

Ray said, "Age hasn't really caught up with me yet, but my muscles are tired from carrying my girth."

I asked, "You're feeling occasional pain, Ray?"

"More so than usual since Dixie, I don't really complain about it since the fireworks are more of a concern."

Mark said, "There's pain killers in the upstairs bathroom medicine cabinet if you need it, Ray. If you want, I can give you a massage."

"How strong are you?"

Mark held up his arms. "I may be scrawny but strength is more about will power than actual force."

Andy said, "Heard of one case from a colleague back in the university, there was this one woman who was mentally ill who ripped out a pole out of solid concrete. Took four big guys, plus a fifth to bring her down."

Ray carried Smugleaf up the stairs. "Well, I better catch some shuteye. Night guys."

I can already picture what would happen in that bedroom. I was a bit surprised that nobody noticed Smugleaf in his arms. She didn't said anything, I guess she was so tired from her panic earlier that she had fallen asleep in Ray's arms. I watched Ray walk up the stairs and disappeared into the darkness above. Mark followed suit, his pikachu and cheering pokémon duo following right behind him. Andy followed him up the stairs and joined him in his bedroom. Bruiser and Volta gathered up on the couch. Wotter and the pansear claimed a spot on the other couch. Woody simply slept on the floor, looking quite comfortable to himself.

None of them slept right away, they continued on in their conversations, using basic pokémon speech. I looked around me and I found only Mark's emolga remained. She stood rather close to me, as if my presence gave her comfort. _"Tes,"_ she said, _"I need to talk to you."_

She seemed uneasy, I wondered what was wrong. _"Okay, you have a spot where we could chat?"_

The sky squirrel pokémon nodded, she climbed up the stairs and I followed her. The guest bedroom closed when we got up to the second floor. Mark's bedroom door was open a crack, I could hear Mark and Andy talking about casual things. Emolga motioned me toward Emmett's bedroom, we were about to walk in when my hyper-sensitive ears twitched. "You shouldn't have played that card on Tesla like that," I heard Andy say. "That poor thing has suffered enough."

I touched Emolga's arm, we both held our breath and listened.

"There isn't any better way I could have told him," said Mark. "He could have heard it from you and he would still break down."

"Tesla is not a softie like your average pokémon, but he has a sensitive nerve. He will give you a bad shock like he would always do to my grandfather when he pisses him off."

"Andy, that already happened. I felt his power when I challenged him in that forest just down that valley. Emolga got hurt, I got scarred. So I came back with firepower and reinforcements. I just wasn't thinking straight at the time, but I knew one thing. He may defeat any pokémon in the world because he has no equal, but he can be only defeated by man. I challenged him and I won. Now he won't dare shock me because his great-granddaughter is under my care. He can't harm me without harming his own family. More importantly, my pokémon have grown attached to him, which gives me more elbow room to get under his skin."

"Mark, hear me out. Tesla is a sensitive pikachu who had his childhood destroyed. I made a mistake by merely teasing him for his inability to swim. That almost destroyed our relationship to each other, you cannot believe what I saw in his eyes. Your pokémon may act as a buffer to his rage, but you push him too far, he's going to snap."

There was a short pause. "I care about Tesla as much as you do. Tesla just does not like me, period. The big reason is not because I am a nuisance to him, not because I get under his skin. It's because I had invaded his privacy, when he wanted to be left alone. I penetrated his comfort zone and destroyed it. After Tesla left the Island, the mayor deemed that forest unsafe from all the traps he had set up. So he put together a team to _burn_ it all down. I was called upon to lead the burn squad. We all took our zippo lighters and burned down every tree and shrub out there. If Tesla has any idea of going back to that place, he will find it replaced by grass and newly planted trees."

Andy said, "So what makes you think that bringing Polly into the fold is going to change anything?"

"Simple, the Dixierats have their alpha male. Now they need their mother. If Tesla's going to have control, he's going to need his mate. Otherwise he has half the authority over the Dixierats. We bring Polly into the fold, Tesla will have the power to release the floodgates." Then he added, "Andy, I don't want to be hard on Tesla. He's just hard on all of us, we just need to soften him up so he can really be our friend. He had said once that his own mother wouldn't recognize him for who he is now, which makes me wonder if he is worthy of getting his Polly back."

I felt my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach.

"Mark," said Andy. "How would your mother react if you were to meet her face to face?"

Mark simply said, "She would simply slam the door in my face because I look just like my father. I'm guessing that's one reason why Tesla hates me, because I didn't grew up with a loving and caring mother like he did. To come to think of it, my dad said that even if she was here with us it wouldn't make a difference on me. I am a Faradian and she is a Unovan. We both grew up under different systems, there was no way we could establish a bond between us."

"How so?"

"Tesla's right, my childhood is all about self-preservation of our country. No love, just brotherhood and patriotism. I don't have a picture on how my mom is raised, all I know is that she cannot take me out of the country because ALL children are part of the Faradian military. So she cut her losses, convincing herself my dad and I were a waste of her time. She went back to Unova and that was that."

Then Andy added something that I didn't know, something that was kept a secret from me for so damn long. "You know," he said. "To come to think of it, my grandmother was born in Unova. She was born in the same town your mother was."

"It's a small world, anyone could see the similarities."

Andy laughed, "Now Irvin would agree to that, he couldn't stand looking at his own mom because of how she threw Tesla out that window. He saw for who she really was, and in order to not be her, he too had to forfeit his love for her for Tesla's sake."

"Did Irvin ever admit this?"

"No, he never admitted it. We Faradians are well known for our respect, no way would Irvin say or feel something like that. But I'm not sure though, since he had hinted it occasionally every time he talks about it."

I heard enough, I placed an arm around Emolga's shoulders and we both walked into Emmett's bedroom. His bedroom was clean, very clean. So clean in fact that it had that hotel smell. Emolga and I got on top of his bed, and in the near darkness I asked, _"So what's on your mind?"_

It took a while to wait before she got started. _"The breeder I grew up with were very subtle. He was caring to his pokémon, bathed and fed them regularly enough. Smugleaf and I were friends since our hatchings, I always had feelings for her and she had feelings for me. We both had our little moments, then one day Alice came in and took her away."_

 _"You know Smugleaf's trainer?"_

Emolga nodded. _"I even saw her, she wore a green bandanna and vest and pants. Grass-type trainer. Since she can only take one pokémon, I was left behind. Smugleaf and I said our goodbyes and we haven't seen each other in a long time."_

 _"So what happened after that?"_

 _"Three years went by, I was shipped around a lot. I had a lot of genetic testing done. I didn't understand the term at the time, all I know was the scientists were looking into my blood."_

 _"And what did they find?"_

Emolga shifted her legs on the bed. _"They didn't like what they found, I didn't understand what was wrong. I was perfectly healthy. What they found was my genes were too well used, in fact my father was also my own half-brother, and my mom was my own first cousin. So I was sent out to Faraday Island to see if my genes were still useful."_

 _"So what happened?"_ I asked.

Emolga shook her head. _"If I tell you, can you please wait till this is all over before you tell Mark? It scares me to see him angry at you, I may have forgave you that day but he didn't, possibly never will."_

 _"Whatever it is, I think he can handle it. He already knows your true age."_

Emolga said, _"I was rejected for pokémon battling. I didn't have the stamina or competence to battle. As you can already tell, I'm just good at sleeping and eating. I also carry some traits that could give my offspring mental disabilities, they didn't say what kind though."_

 _"Their conclusion?"_

She frowned, her eyes started to twinkle in the faint mood lighting. _"They wanted to put me down, I didn't have the best genes for much of anything. If I were to breed, I could risk spreading a hotbed of bad ailments to my children and their descendants. I was lucky when Mark came into the back room and chose me, I was scheduled to be euthanized the very next day. They don't do that anymore by the way, thanks to you."_

 _"What were his friends' response?"_ I asked.

Emolga smiled, _"They adore me, really adore me. I never felt so loved. They pet me and scratch my back and everything, but Mark is my person. He's not my trainer in a sense, he's more of my handler, my owner. He trained me for gun, knife, and fire safety, but that's it. Nothing else."_

 _"He ever tell you stories?"_

 _"Not really, no."_

I asked, _"He said he didn't know you were a girl."_

Emolga nodded. _"A lot of the rejects were usually male, and since I was tossed out of the breeding program and eligibility for pokémon battling, nobody thought about checking my gender. So when I was misidentified as a male, I merely slipped myself into the role."_

 _"And you carried that ploy for all these years?"_

 _"I can't read and write, I had no way of telling Mark. In fact I didn't really mind being mistaken as a boy. Not that it matters for pokémon, but I almost believed in it myself."_

 _"Those cheering pokémon, Plusle and Minun, what did they think of this?"_

Emolga said, _"They knew who I really was, in fact they had more contact with me than Mark. I don't think they cared, I am an emolga to them either way."_

 _"How about that magnetite?"_

 _"I never really like him and I didn't think he likes me, he was smarter than me and the cheering pokémon. Mark just merely used him to charge his portable electronics. That magnetite doesn't seem to mind, I don't think affection is at the top of his priority list."_ Emolga paused for a moment. _"Honestly, I was kind of glad that you pulled him out of our lives, but I just wish it was for another reason."_

I asked, _"Tell me, Emolga. How did he react to you being a girl? In fact how did he react when he found out your age?"_

Emolga said, _"I guess I have to thank you for telling him."_

 _"I didn't really tell him, I just hinted it and told him to check your blood sample. It's almost like he thought you had cancer."_

Emolga said, _"Right after you left Faraday Island, he wanted to be extra sure, so he put on plastic gloves and . . . Well, since I was raised by a pokémon breeder, I was used to being handled like that. Wild pokémon would not like to be handled like that, but I liked it."_

 _"Why do you like it?"_

 _"Think of it like it was a thorough method of grooming, in fact there was so much I didn't know about myself, so I let him did his thing while the cheering pokémon watched."_

 _"Just what did he really do?"_

Emolga thought for a moment. _"You might not wanna tell anybody about this, Mark and I may get in trouble."_

 _"Emolga, I told Mark that my own mama gave me blow jobs after bed."_ I shrugged, _"That's what happens if you get weaned too early."_

Emolga said, _"Well, okay. So practically he stuck his fingers around my vagina, half-hoping it was a mere pouch to hold a penis."_

 _"And what did he find?"_

Emolga smiled, _"Whatever he found, I think he called it the cervix. It was in the very back. He pulled his fingers out and pulled off his gloves, and then he said, 'I should have checked the day I got you, damn I'm so stupid!'"_

I just chuckled, not really funny, but the way Emolga said it earns a laugh. I got serious again and asked, _"You didn't mind him probing you like that?"_

Emolga pressed her tiny hands against her chest. _"Hey, I wasn't brought up to have manners and a sense of privacy. It's not a violation, mainly because it was very common from where I grew up."_

I frowned, _"What about my great-granddaughter, how did she react to Mark?"_

Emolga said, _"She views him as a mate, not a potential mate, an actual mate. Much like you and Polly."_

 _"That I already know, she told me."_

Emolga nodded. _"When she first arrived, she kind of gotten upset every time Mark adores me. It wasn't jealousy, she thought she was being rejected. It took a while for her to realize we were all getting the same kind of love, but I could tell she wanted more."_

 _"Pikachus are greedy fucks, how could she not want more?"_

 _"Didn't last long though, she begged Mark for some time and Mark complied. That part, I'm afraid, she herself will have to tell you."_

I said, _"I think I knew what may had happened and I'm not surprised, but I'm not going to press her over it. She had hinted something between her and Mark while we were at Fort Wernher, but she didn't say what."_ I lowered my head and sighed, _"Andy claimed he had found my first born son. His name is Wheels. I don't know if I should trust him or not about it, but the Dixierats don't need me for their initial infestation."_

 _"Wheels, why is he called Wheels?"_

 _"I don't know, something have to do with race cars. It sounded like he had a well-lived life."_ I sat there for a moment, then stood up on the bed. _"My heart is set, I have to know for sure even if I had to navigate so closed to my old ancestral home."_

 _"You're going to Kanto?"_ Emolga asked.

I shrugged, _"If my son had children of his own and they're somewhere on this island, I'm sure they would want to hear from him."_

Emolga got up and touched my hand. _"But what about your family here? They need you?"_

 _"What can I do? I am fucking one hundred and seven years old, you expect an old rat like me to handle all their problems?"_

 _"I thought you were a mouse."_

I gently squeezed Emolga's hand. _"I don't think it makes a difference. Emolga, even though they're my blood. They're not my family. I have to earn that. So to really establish a family, I need to give it some history. I just know where to find it."_

 _"Where?"_

Good question, just _where_ can I find it?

 **. . .**

I talked with Emolga for the next ten minutes, I guess you could say we had some form of father/ daughter relationship. I guess that was a reputation I had earned. I led Emolga out of Emmett's room and sent her to Mark's. I stood by and watched as Emolga pushed the door open and stepped inside. She's a sweet little thing, I guess she picked up some of Mark's intellect. Not surprising, she may be a mindless extension of Mark's personality but they have almost nothing in common. Mark's an athletic minuteman ready to spring into action while Emolga's just a fat furry slob. _Good at sleeping and eating,_ she had said. But there was one need the two can provide for each other. Mark's quite a social son of a bitch, he needs someone to be there in this empty house of his. Emolga needed a father figure, someone who could serve as a big brother and caretaker. With that one and only need, the two had bonded to each other and they were merry.

I walked up to the guest room and pressed my ear against the door. All I heard were soft snores and Ray's bumbling. I didn't know why I decided to eavesdrop on him. I couldn't help on not trusting that Smugleaf, I guess Ray saw that soft spot in her and exploited it. I leaned against the door and thought for a moment, if Ray keeps a watchful eye on Smugleaf I don't have to worry about her trying to violate anyone. Then again, I made it quite clear by breaking her arm that such an act was a big no-no. Wrong of me to throw her like that, but all she wanted was to help herself, because the person who can help her has departed.

I stepped away from the door when I heard someone crawling up the steps. It was Volta, she crawled right up to me when she reached the top of the stairs. "What did Emolga want?" she asked.

"She told me her history, and some things between her and Mark."

"You noticed she smelled like chocolate?"

I thought for a moment, Emolga's scent to me didn't smell like chocolate, more like shit. "No," I said. "I didn't noticed."

Volta pressed her head against my side and sniffed my armpit, I merely gave her a hug. "You just couldn't get enough of my scent, could you?"

"You smell like leather mixed in peanut butter."

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, I held Volta up and said, "Here, I gotta take another Valium pill before I go to bed. You go wait in Emmett's room, I'll be right back."

"Where's Emmett's room?"

I pointed toward the open door. "Right there. Now go, Volta."

I walked up to Mark's door and pushed it open. A cot was stretched out across the wooden floor, Andy sat on it as he looked through a small DOD handbook that talks about what to do during an invasion. I doubt he was taking it seriously, but the fact that he was reading it made me wonder if he was considering something unintended. "Andy," I said. "You have any more of that Valium?"

Andy shut the book and sat up. "Yeah, I do. Feeling better?"

"Better than I was two weeks ago."

Andy fished into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle, he opened up the bottle, poured out a small tablet, and handed it to me. "Just don't take it with alcohol, unless you want get completely shitfaced."

"Got it. Night, Andy."

I walked out of the room and stepped into the bathroom, I stuck the pill into my mouth and climbed up on the sink. I turned on the faucet and washed down the pill, I wiped my mouth and, after checking to see if anyone was watching, urinated in the sink. I washed it out by running hot water down the drain before climbing down and returning to Volta.

She was underneath the bed sheets, moving around, seeing what's underneath. I closed the door and climbed up on top of the bed, she poked her head out of the sheets and smiled. "This bed is way softer than the ones at the hotels."

"Yup."

I laid down on my back and Volta brushed up beside me, she settled down in a fixed position. Now I waited for the Valium to take hold before I fall asleep.

Volta wrapped an arm around me and asked, "You really don't like me being fat?"

I simply asked, "Is there something you want from me, but just aren't too sure about it?"

She didn't answer, so I traced a hand over her belly and grabbed the most fur I could. Volta yelped and pressed her forehead against my shoulder. "Volta," I said. "Just why do you keep asking me this? You could get as fat to the point where you can't walk and I would still not turn against you. I put so much investment into raising you that I am not denying my love for you no matter what."

As if that was a green light telling her to go, she gently bit down on my side and rubbed my fur and skin between her teeth. Oedipus complex, figures. "There there, Volta," I said. "I love you."

Volta lets go and pressed her head against my armpit, and we slept like that for the night.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter 15_

If you were expecting some funny business, then I am not going to go into details. All I can say was that I felt something wasn't right, I moaned and woke up. I felt like I had pissed the bed in the middle of the night, which I didn't care since this wasn't my bed. My pikachu mindset was well awake, but my human rationality was struggling to come back online. I lay there for a few minutes, waiting for my senses to reboot. When I was aware enough to think, I started figuring out what had happened. I found Volta still by my side and that was all the explaining I need. She was panting hard, like she had just ran a marathon. The mouse pokémon paced her breathing, I listened as she started cooing in pokémon speech.

I reached up across to Volta and grabbed onto her with both hands. She yelped under her breath as I pulled her close and wrapped my arms around her. I kissed her cheek and stroke her fur, she purred until she fell asleep. Nothing happened after that.

 **. . .**

Morning came when I smelled food was being cooked. I sat up, stretched out my arms and legs. Volta was still asleep, but she too was stirred awake by the smell. I left her be and jumped off the bed, then got the bedroom door open and made it downstairs.

"Good thing I don't have much perishables stored in the fridge," I heard Mark say from the kitchen. "It should be easy to clean it out."

Mark didn't have a kitchen table or a dining room in a sense, his house isn't big enough for one. Everyone was eating on the couches as an alternative instead. Mark's technician laptop was unhooked from the TV and plugged into the black recharging station by the door. This weird, glossy device was the size of a public mailbox, fitted with all sorts of power outlets and USB ports. Mark's computer sat on the top, charging away from the charging station's battery. The TV was on, still displaying a blue screen.

Sitting on the coffee table was pancake batter and maple syrup, along with some fresh scrambled chancy eggs. Ray was wolfing his food down without a problem, Woody was going through his food normally. Everyone else had trouble eating or weren't touching their food at all. Bruiser and Smugleaf in particular weren't eating, Wotter merely nibbled on a hash brown patty. The pansear was a unique case, he wasn't used to eating people food. He constantly complained under his breath about the texture and flavors assaulting his mouth, but he kept eating it anyway.

I casually walked up and sat down by Smugleaf. She didn't acknowledge me, maybe she had tuned herself out from the outside world and locked herself away inside her head. "Morning," I said.

Smugleaf said nothing, but Ray quickly took noticed. "Morning," he said after he finished cleaning his plate. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yeah, I did. How about you and Smugleaf?"

"She's a difficult thing to keep warm, but luckily we had a heating blanket on top of us. I tuned it to a lukewarm setting and that helped a lot."

I turned to Smugleaf and picked up her hand, it was cold to the touch. "Smugleaf," I said. "You gotta eat something."

The snivy's beautiful brown eyes glanced at me, they glistened underneath the growing ambient sunlight from the windows. Those weren't the eyes I saw when she held her signature knife to my throat, these eyes were hollow and dead.

"Is it alright with you if I get you a blanket to keep you warm?"

Smugleaf didn't answer.

"Do you want one?"

Smugleaf looked away for a moment, then nodded. I got down and fetched a blanket from the utility closet. Volta came down the stairs, feeling particularly good about herself. "Hi, Tesla!"

"Hey there, girl," I said. "There's food on the table, get as much as you can because Mark's getting rid of it all."

I found a soft wool blanket, I folded it up and carried it over to Smugleaf and wrapped her up. Volta grabbed a plate and piled a little bit of everything on it, and like Ray she wolfed it down. I then checked up on Wotter, his state hadn't changed since yesterday. I noticed his bandaging was recently changed, perhaps Andy had done it for him. _"Wotter,"_ I asked in pokémon speech. _"Are you doing okay?"_

Wotter merely shrugged, _"I don't know, my legs feel numb and I don't feel like doing anything at the moment."_

I got down from the couch and got myself a plate, Volta was already on her seconds. Her hands barely grasped the utensils as she dug into her cheesy hash browns and brought them to her mouth. We all ate in silence for the next few minutes. When I was done, I merely took my plate and sat it back on the table. Volta finished her food and put her plate on top of mine, then she turned and took notice of Wotter. I didn't know what her eyes saw in Wotter, maybe she caught a glimpse of himself or had some sympathy for him. Either way, she jumped up on the couch and snuggled by his side. Despite Wotter's track record for being a bully, he wasn't showing it as Volta started brushing against his arm. It made Wotter stir, I tried my best not to laugh when Volta started poking Wotter's belly. He started to squirm, then finally giggled.

 _"There we go,"_ said Woody. _"Hadn't seen him laugh in years."_

 _"When's the last time he laughed?"_ I asked.

 _"When he experimented with laughing gas he got from Tendon, she wasn't happy with that but it sure brought up his mood for the day."_

Mark's pokémon finished their breakfast and stacked their plates on top of each other. Mark came in shortly after. He looked pretty calm as the cloud of the Dixierat invasion hanged over his head. Mark picked up his pokémon's plates and carried them back to the kitchen, then returned to the living room. "I gotta go to work today, not sure if the auto shop would be open though."

"You have a key to get in?" I asked.

"Yeah, I can. I would run the whole place if I had to if the boss can't come to work, but he doesn't like that."

Someone banged frantically on the door. Andy was spurred out of the kitchen, stripping off his thick latex gloves as Mark rushed to the door. "Mark!" a muffled voice barked outside. "It's me, Henry! Please, let me in!"

Mark undid the latch and pulled the door open. Henry Park stumbled in. His face was covered in sweat and he smelled like gunpowder. He was wearing a National Guard uniform, but his uniform was tattered, splattered with blood. Henry had a Glock 17 clamped in one hand and a Mossberg riotgun slung over his back. Mark backed up as Henry held up two dead pikachus by the tail, both had fresh bullet holes in them. "If this is some sick joke, they're gonna feel sore for all the nut kicking I'm going to do!"

I didn't need to see that, my family didn't need to see that, and Nobark's friends didn't need to see that. Bruiser and Volta were horrified, the pansear's eyes were wide open. Mark's pokémon and Ray didn't know what to make of it, caught between fear and confusion, all they could do was stare. Henry marched into the kitchen and dropped the two dead pikachus in the sink, the loud soft thud made me squeamish. I didn't know how to react. If the Dixierats pissed Henry off, then that's their fault, but what did they do to deserve that?

Mark jogged up to the dead pikachus to get a good look at them, just to be sure what he is seeing was real. "Holy shit, Henry! Why did you bring these over!?"

"I need something to make this clear we are all in deep shit," he said, his voice filled with anger. "I'm a patient guy, but this time things have gotten too far! Fuck!"

Mark's pokémon scrambled off the sofa as Henry sat down, they all crawled up around Volta and Wotter. The couch suddenly became very claustiphobic, I felt I was pinned between a rock and a hard place.

Andy went over and glanced at the pikachus, he picked one of them up and checked their vitals. "They're cold!"

Mark stuck out his hand. "Henry, the gun?"

Henry handed his Glock to Mark, he pulled out the magazine and checked the ammo count. "Dry," he said. "Henry, what happened?"

Before Henry could answer, he looked up, saw me, and all the surrounding pokémon. "Oh fuck, it's the damn bounty all over again!"

"I got dragged into this," I said, which was half-true. "Andy didn't spend his time jacking off, that's for sure."

Henry turned around and glanced at Andy, "Oh fuck, I should've known. No, wait. I did know! You're behind the sea of fur piss that swarmed downtown!?"

Andy clutched the dead pikachu in his hands. "Uh, pretty much."

"Oh so that's why you called me trying to search for Mark! You wanted his help to bring them here! But who are these mice?"

"They're the Dixierats," I said. "My relatives."

"Family members?"

"They all came from me."

"Oh shit, now I'm the one who fucked up too! Shit, how could I have known!?"

Mark said, "Henry, slow down. Tell us what happened?"

Henry took a deep breath. "Short story is that Rai Rai, my raichu, got kidnapped by those Dixierats. I knew right away something was going down when my TV's satellite signal died. I went by protocol and shut off the power and water, then I took Rai Rai back to my bedroom where I loaded up my shotgun. Next thing I did was looking out through my window and saw those things crawling all over my yard.

"They were trying to get in, they kept banging on the door and windows but weren't really trying. Rai Rai didn't know what to do, when he saw all those mouse pokémon he dropped into the worst mental state I have ever seen. I think he knew right away what they were going to do to him, so I did my best and guarded him with my life."

"And they got in?" Mark asked.

Henry nodded. "Broke down the door before sunrise, but I had my shotgun ready. I've waited for hours, sitting in the dark, waiting for them to charge in. All my training centered on that very moment. I had my shotgun ready, and when that door swung open I fired away."

Mark picked up the towel from the couch and handed it to Henry, he took it and wiped his face. "Ironically it was another raichu, actually three of them. I fired a slug straight at them and it tore through them like butter. Made a bloody mess of everything. I just kept firing and firing. I was shocked, I was expecting them to run. But they didn't flinch when I had the gun in their face. They screamed when I shot them, sure, but when the initial raichus went down the pichus and pikachus poured over them and charged straight at me. Sure enough they made a run for Rai Rai, he panicked and tried using some of his special moves to knock them back. When the shotgun ran out of shells, I switched to my crowbar." Henry held up his hands and imitate swing it. "That is how I got blood on my clothes."

Bruiser crawled up to Andy and checked the pikachu in his arms. The raichu eyes blinked rapidly, he ran into the kitchen and checked on the other, _"No,"_ he said in pokémon speech. _"No no no no, this is not what we've signed up for!"_

He ran back into the living room and shot a look at Henry, his eyes filled with tears. "You killed them! You killed them! You bastard!"

Bruiser made a dash for Henry. Ray acted fast, he leaped over the coffee table and tackled Bruiser to the floor. Andy dropped the dead pikachu as he stumbled back, Mark caught him in time and helped him regain his balance. "Easy, B!" Ray barked.

Ray was a head taller than Bruiser and three times more powerful, but the raichu knew where to hit. He took his stubby fist and pinched his mutant cousin's arm into his armpit. Ray yelped and started backing off, giving Bruiser the opportunity to kick Ray in the gut. The mutant mouse pokémon toppled backwards and crashed to the floor.

Bruiser's eyes shot open. He gasped, covering his mouth as he stared in horror. Ray moaned and nursed his good arm. After a long moment, Bruiser turned around and charged for the back door.

Ray shot up a hand. "Bruiser, wait! I'm fine!"

The raichu ripped the door open and was out in Mark's backyard. I groaned, "Here we go. Andy, take care of Ray. I'm going after Bruiser."

I didn't stay long enough for him to argue, I sprinted over the couch and skidded across the wooden floor before sprinting out the door. I quickly picked up Bruiser's scent trail, I jumped up on top of the cinderblock wall and caught a glimpse of him running for the next street. I dropped down and charged for him. From what I knew of Bruiser, he had spent his life doing nothing more than eating and sleeping like his Dixierat brethren. I had spent much of my life, literally, on the run. I caught up to my emotional grandson within seconds. Bruiser caught wind of me and sprinted faster. I kept a steady pace, the goal was not to try to outrun Bruiser but to wait until he tires out before jumping him. I chased him down the street, avoiding skirmishes between the Dixierats and the Island's denizens. A lot of the encounters were harmless, just pokémon being a nuisance to their fellow man. We sprinted past one man swatting at the Dixierats with a shovel from his front door. He looked up, saw me, that brief moment of surprise and recognition gave the Dixierats the opportunity to swarm him and bring him down. I didn't stick around to watch them raid the poor guy's house.

I chased Bruiser around the street and I saw a few bodies. Dixierats lying dead in the road, some of which were shot, but most appeared to be squashed by car tires. Cars, a mouse pokémon's infamous nemesis. The squashed Dixierats had their GI tracks exploded out their bodies. Either through their belly, or worse, through their rectums. From all the few dead bodies I saw, a mere handful still had their eyes open. Death came so fast for these poor pikachus that they had no time to feel it. This did nothing to curb Bruiser's panic attack, only fueled his distress. I dodged the bodies, avoiding the blood puddles as we ran down that street. Bruiser crawled up to another cinderblock wall and jumped, heaving his massive girth over and dropping on the other side.

By this time I figured out his general direction, so I took a detour around the cinderblock wall to a conjoining one-story house. There was an alleyway behind it, I sprinted down that alley while keeping an imaginary sense of where Bruiser might end up. I came across a four-way and there he was, sprinting from my right on all fours. He didn't see me until I cannon-balled into his side.

We both tumbled and flopped to the ground. Bruiser scrambled back up on his feet, "Bruiser!" I called out to him. "Come on, boy! Easy!"

"Go away!" the raichu spat, and he drew back his tail. The thin whip-like tail flashed, turning into a bright steel silver. He swung it up and tried to swipe me with it. I dashed rolled and felt the tail brushed against my back, I kicked my foot against the ground and leaped at Bruiser and head-butted him in the gut.

I knocked Bruiser back, but he held his ground. He stood up on his hind legs and readied another attack. No use talking him down, he had lost it. The only solution was for me to beat sense into him. The raichu cupped his hands, forming a small bright plasma ball. Hyper beam, a raichu's signature move. He blasted it out with the best of his abilities. I peeled back, managing to dodge the white column of fury by centimeters. The beam crashed into a nearby trash can and caused it to explode, spewing garbage in all directions.

I curled up my tail and charged up a small ball of electricity. Electro ball, my own range ability. I had a lot of training under my belt, I charged up that ball within a blink of an eye and hurled it at Bruiser. The raichu tried to dodge it, but I merely clipped his side. The kinetic energy alone, however, knocked him off-balance. I charged up to him and lifted up my tail. It flashed, turning to steel. I swung it around and gave Bruiser my own version of Iron Tail. I struck him in the solar plexus, his lungs exploded as he dropped to the ground.

I wasn't done with him yet, I wanted to make sure he wouldn't run. I charged at him, curled my hand into a fist, and smashed it against key pressure points. Bruiser flashed yellow, trying to charge up a Thunderbolt. I merely sock him in the electro gland with a fist. Bruiser's Thunderbolt discharged prematurely, I took the blast of electricity. It did not harm me, not even a little. I managed to absorb the shock into my system with ease. An advantage of being the Master of Electricity.

I also had another advantage: brute strength. I grabbed good handfuls of Bruiser's flesh and lifted his 140 kilogram frame over my head, I let out a battle cry as I swung him in the air and smashed him against the asphalt.

I checked Bruiser's eyes, they were filled with spirals. He was incapacitated.

I panted hard, my lungs were burning. I had exerted myself this time. I hadn't faced a raichu in battle for fifty years. This was the first time I had brought down a raichu in my Post-Westinghouse years, and the second time I had brought down another relative. My legs were turning to rubber, I laid my back against Bruiser's belly and stared straight up at the sky. It was blue as my fur was yellow. Same old, same old. The last time I had battled on Faraday Island was for my life, now it was for the sake of a family member.

I didn't know how long I sat there waiting for Bruiser to come to his senses. When he did, he broke down crying. I closed my eyes and listened, "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry, Tes."

"No, B," I said. "I'm sorry for you stepping into my world."

Bruiser tried to get up. "Oww, my tail. I think you sprained it."

"Now you know why I don't battle like this, it's bad for my health."

I got behind Bruiser and pushed him up. "I'm not going to ask you why you ran out like that, cause I know."

"You do?"

I sighed. "I lost good friends from such grief."

Bruiser sat there to catch his breath, he cracked his joints as he flexed his arms and back. "Ow, why did you have to be that rough?"

"Had to be since I am a lesser evolution variant, gotta do it fast or I would get pummeled."

"I wasn't going to pummel you."

"No, not you, Bruiser. It's just my training from the old days."

Bruiser got up on his feet and stretched out his legs. "I don't know what to do, Tes. I don't even know where to start. I knew those Dixierats in the sink, they were from my old pack."

"Were you close?"

"We were all close."

"When was the last time you saw them?"

Bruiser shook his head. "I don't know anymore, it's been way too long already."

I listened to the background, the faint echoes of car alarms were dying off. I could hear fellow pikachus in the distance, chirping non-stop. Even with the massive change that was taking place within the city, it still sounded quiet since as always. I said, "What do you feel like doing, B?"

"I don't feel like going back right away, that Henry guy scares me."

"He's just as bad as Mark."

"That's different."

"Mark and his father shot and nearly killed me, do you see me bowing down and kissing their asses?"

Bruiser blinked. "Uhh, I am lost for words."

I frowned, "Look, you wanna make this right, then let's find Rai Rai. How much do you know about yourself?"

"Everything but my appearance."

"Same as Rai Rai, except he's more sensitive to others than himself. We'll start at Henry's house and track Rai Rai down from there, you're up for the task?"

Bruiser looked away. "I don't have much of a choice, either sit and waste my life away or do something."

"Okay then, follow me. I know this town like the back of my hand, I know where Henry's place is."

 **. . .**

I wasn't sure if my relationship with my grandson had improved or withered, but I think our little scuttle got a lot off his chest. He walked along behind me, slouching his shoulders. I heard him sniffle every few minutes, but I think he can hang in there for one more day. Despite his huge frame, I felt comfortable in his shadow. He was a protector, not a bully. One day he would prove himself, but not today.

"Will we be shot at?" Bruiser asked.

"Chances are, yes."

"That's not very reassuring."

"I know Faraday Island, the denizens were taught from birth to shoot invaders. Hopefully I still have some influence to sway them otherwise."

"You think that will work?"

"No, not one bit. I don't even know what's really going on anymore, I've been out of the loop for far too long."

We came across the street where I believe Henry's house was at. The bodies of Dixierat's were obvious enough to mark out his house. I did a quick scan around the neighborhood for prying eyes, saw none, and then made a break for it."

Bruiser scrambled, "Wait for me!"

We crawled up to the scene of the Dixierat skirmish, the only mice left were the dead ones, still laying where they fell. The door was wide open, barely hanging off of the hinges. I peeked inside and saw three dead raichus, the riotgun had taken off huge chunks of meat and splattered it across the floor and walls. I turned to Bruiser, he stared at the carnage with those big marble eyes of his. "I'm not going in there," the raichu whined.

"It's just the front door, Bruiser. What, you expect someone might be in there trying to rob the place?"

"I'm not walking in that icky blood."

I frowned, "Well we can't stay out here. Come on, Bruiser. Help me drag these guys out into the lawn and fix the damn door. Rai Rai lives here, he doesn't want to come back to a house filled with death."

Bruiser nodded, then followed me in. The blood had already dried so we didn't get any stuck to our feet. We dragged the bodies of the raichus outside. It was a grisly process for Bruiser, but I was used to it. I had plenty of experience in handling the dead. The bodies have long gone cold and were stiffer than taffy, I had Bruiser drag the bodies to the curb and lay them in orderly fashion. If the sanitation crews come in to collect the trash, they will also collect the dead bodies no questions asked. Once we got the raichus on the curb, we moved the few pikachu bodies on the lawn. The shotgun had obliterated a couple, the rest showed lethal 9mm wounds. They were all headshots. Henry, like the average Faradian, is one damn of a cowboy.

"That's that," I said. "Now we gotta clean up the blood off the floor."

"What about the walls?" Bruiser asked.

"Some other guy's problem, we can put a temporary fix on the door and mop of the blood. Then we could get to work in finding Rai Rai."

We walked back in and moved the door back into its frame. The deadbolt and doorknob was torn out of the door, but the frame remained roughly intact. I took the nearby doorstopper by the corner and wedged it underneath the door. That should hold it in place for now. I went to the utility closet and found a mop and a tub of oxygen powder. I spread a cup all over the bloodstains where I found them and Bruiser filled a bucket for the mop. I dumped a cup of the powder inside the bucket, then we started mopping up the blood. The oxygen powder worked its magic, removing the stains off the floor like magic. We had to change out the pad twice to make sure we got everything. The walls were no hope, we left the blood on the walls untouched.

We dumped out the bucket down the toilet and put the supplies back into the closet, then I led the way to Henry's room. "What are we looking for?" Bruiser asked.

"A scent trail," I said. "Perhaps we can get a scent sample from the bed."

Henry Park's bedroom was clean, the bed well-made. I walked up to it and pressed my nose against the mattress. "Smells like shit," I said. "Yeah, I think I have an idea what his scent trail is like."

Bruiser pressed his nose against the covers. "Smells a bit like caramel and farts."

"Yup, that sums it up."

We exited out the backdoor of Henry's house to avoid being spotted by the neighbors. Once we got outside, we instantly got a hold of the trail. I sniffed the air and my old nose pinned down Rai Rai's direction. "I know where to go."

 **. . .**

They didn't get far, truth be told, whatever the Dixierats wanted him for were too impatient to wait. They had taken over a small park just a few blocks away. The place was literally crawling with a few dozen Dixierats. The available raichus they had formed a ring around the park. They were big, brawly brutes who would risk their own lives to save their pack. At the time, I had no idea that I was witnessing the formation of one of the first permanent Dixierat sects to inhabit Faraday Island. But what I did know was there was something different about these Dixierats than what I was used to.

"Strange," said Bruiser as we stood fifty meters away, watching the pack move and play around the children's playground. "I don't remember the Dixierats acting like this."

"Acting like what?" I asked.

Bruiser pointed toward the core of the pack, which overtook the children's play-fort. "I don't know what it is, but they are moving in a weird pattern. Normally the Dixierats are a mass group of individuals, but they've gotten organized."

"Which means somebody's leading them," I said. "I wonder who that'd be."

Whoever it is, I'm guessing it was in the center of the pack at the highest point of the play-fort. I turned to Bruiser and said, "So what's the best mode of action? We just storm the place and batter our way through to Rai Rai, or we just walk in like we own the place and take him?"

Bruiser blinked. "You have some more push over them than me. It be great if we have Ray over here though, the Dixierats had voted him to be one of their leaders."

"What made them decide to vote Ray as one of their leaders?"

Bruiser said, "He's big, strong, and gentle. Mainly he has the muscle to solidify his power, compared to your average mouse pokémon."

I said, "I don't know how long Rai Rai would last in that infestation. We had to get him out now before the psychological damage is permanent."

"Right, but do we have a plan?"

I thought for a moment. "They felt my power back in Dixie when I unleashed an EMP, I think they won't try to test me."

"They know you're old as fuck."

"And they know I can steal their energy if I wanted to."

Bruiser shrugged, "Okay then, let's just walk in, grab Rai Rai, and be on our way."

We made our approach walking on two-legs, as that somehow acted like a symbol of authority. I guess this was the first time that I policed my own relatives, there will be more of these moments to follow. Bruiser walked by my side as we made our approach. The raichu guards saw us coming, their faces showing confusion. Several pikachus and pichus took noticed and watched me from afar, the general mass of Dixierats continued on through their daily business of grooming and playing for the moment. I walked up to the closest raichu near me. His fur was messy and reeks of French fries. I didn't sense any hostility from him, which was a good sign.

 _"You did well out there,"_ I said to him. _"Guarding the surge from the FPD."_

The raichu shrugged, _"I still feel sore from that, but we all know what to do and where to go."_

I asked, _"Spare me the details, I'm just here for something else."_

 _"What would that be?"_

I said, _"I'm looking for a raichu named Rai Rai Park, he's not one of our own but is a resident of this island. From what I was told he was kidnapped by a herd of Dixierats while being fired upon by his trainer. I poked around and the trail leads here."_

The raichu showed no surprise, keeping his cool. I was starting to think he may not be involved with this mess, let alone knew what had happened. _"Come to think of it, a pack of Dixierats had come back with a raichu I never seen before. He smelled like caramel and he looks kind of scared. They had raichus with them when they first left, you know what happened to them?"_

 _"Dead, slug rounds from a .12-gauge."_

Now the raichu showed surprise. _"Who shot them?!"_

 _"The trainer, as he was defending his home. Now he is pissed and I am here. I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm just simply asking: Where's Rai Rai?"_

The raichu cocked his head toward the play-fort. _"Up there."_

 _"Who's in charge of this pack?"_

 _"A pikachu, a veteran Dixierat from the poacher days."_

 _"If he tries to take off when I confront him, you and your other raichus tackle him. He's in big trouble. If I don't detain him now, there will be a higher power who would place the blame on all of you."_

The raichu nodded. _"He's always been skittish, I know how he moves. I'll get the other raichus in position, if he runs we'll get him."_

 _"Whatever you do, don't knock him unconscious or injure him. I need him to see what he's done before we turn him loose."_

I made my way up to the play-fort through a blind spot where I believe they wouldn't see me, Bruiser took another route into the play-fort from the opposite side. I knew who Rai Rai is, knew his general shape and scent. Since he was an urban dweller pokémon and had lived comfortably in Faraday City, he's going to be fatter and gentle than his other raichu counterparts. He could have overpowered me when we first met, when he fell down a derelict well and I helped him out. He could have run, make a break for it. I had no plans on flagging him down. Instead he stayed and cooperated. He was one of those pokémon who, like Mark's emolga, needed a trainer to hound. I guess he found some comfort by my side then, perhaps he could find some comfort by my side again.

I found him not on the highest point of the play-fort, but by the ladder to it. I could make out Rai Rai's features through all the Dixierats covering him. They had him pinned to the floor, cuddling and gently biting against Rai Rai's fur. I felt Bruiser stepped beside me, then we started shutting down the party. All I had to do was let out a sharp, brief whistle. My rotten teeth managed to let out a sharp whistle, the loud rapid-fire speech of three dozen Dixierats were silenced instantly. The Dixierats took a moment to get their bearings, then turned to me. I don't know what they were seeing through their eyes, but they treated me as if I was a god. They knew they were in the wrong, knew why I was here. They backed away from the exhausted Rai Rai. The raichu sat up, took a moment to catch his breath. He looked at me with merciful eyes. Caught between fear and relief, he crawled up to me and gave me a big hug.

I instantly recognized his shape, but for some reason his scent didn't have a hint of caramel. _"You came for me, right? Henry sent you?"_

I said, _"No, he didn't. I came out here on my own terms to retrieve you."_

Rai Rai glanced around, he was still in shock from seeing his own kind. _"Who are they, Tes? They seem familiar, but…"_

 _"They're my kin,"_ I said, _"and one of them is in trouble because it was his or her idea to kidnap you."_

 _"He,"_ said Rai Rai. _"It was a he, I think. I don't know where he is though."_

I glanced around the Dixie herd and scanned their faces, looking for any signs of leadership. I saw nothing but a lot of generic faces of the same creature. I guess this was how he wants to play it, so I waited.

And low and behold, I heard one Dixierat tried to make a break for it. All eyes turned toward the back as we watched a pikachu, who was no doubt the leader, scrambled off the play-fort and flopped to the ground. The raichus were quick on him, they had him surrounded and they pinned him down in seconds. Rai Rai, Bruiser, and I climbed down the play-fort and we proceed to confront the leader. The raichu I spoke with earlier picked him up and dropped the pikachu at my feet. He was a small, young lad. His fur full of life, and his eyes filled with mercy.

 _"Well,"_ I said. _"Are you the leader of this pack?"_

 _"Yes,"_ he whimpered.

 _"And you sure know who I am?"_

He nodded, _"Yes, Tesla."_

Then I changed to human speech. "And I suppose you know why I am here confronting you like this?"

He definitely knows he was in the wrong, the pikachu started breaking down into tears. I walked up to him and gave him a hug, patting him in the back. _"We caught his scent, he had pure genes. We needed diversity."_

 _"This is not the time to start repopulating. We're in a war zone, and this time we're the aggressor, not them. Do you have any idea how much damage you caused to Rai Rai here, any idea how much fury you put his trainer in?"_

 _"We just couldn't resist!"_

 _"It's built right in. Yes, I know. I've been there. If it wasn't because of all the dead Dixierats I found at his house, I would just be picking up Rai Rai and left you alone. But you got dead Dixierats on your hands because of an irrational decision, and that needs to be dealt with."_

He tried to get away, but I grabbed his cheeks and made him face my eyes. _"This is what we're going to do, youngin. We're going to take your pack here, go back to that house, and we're going to remove those bodies for proper disposal. Do you hear me?"_

 _"Yes, Tesla! I hear you, sir!"_

I picked him up and handed him to Bruiser. _"Here, keep him in your grasp and make sure he isn't going to run away."_

Bruiser nodded. _"Aye, Tes."_

I turned to the rest of the Dixierats, they were all watching us from up in the play-fort. Many looked relieved but knew this was not over. I said, _"All of you, on me. Up to it now!"_

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	16. Chapter 16

_Chapter 16_

I took the herd back to Henry's house and watched them gather up their dead. I know what most of the herd were thinking, they saw their dead as food rather something to mourn. I don't blame them, times were tough. Let them feel what they wanna feel, just have some integrity for fuck sake. The leader of the pack helped out with every single body, carrying them off to somewhere that was out of sight. How far they would go, I have no idea. Burn them or toss them in the garbage, a corpse is still a corpse. Dead bodies are a health hazard that needs to be dealt with.

When that was done, I dismissed the pack, but before they left, I had the leader gave Rai Rai a hug. It was awkward for the raichu, but he nonetheless went along with it. The Dixierat leader then said his final apologies before rejoining his pack, we never saw him ever since.

"That went quite well," said Bruiser. "I was half-expecting things would escalate."

I said, "So was I, but thank Arceus it never reached that point."

We started off back toward Mark's house, keeping a steady pace down the sidewalk. We said nothing for a while, then Rai Rai broke the silence. _"Are you still mad at me?"_

 _"Mad at you for what?"_

 _"For me intruding your home that day?"_

I shook my head. _"I don't have a home anymore. That place is public land, your trainer has every right to it as he pleases."_

 _"So you borrowed it?"_

I nodded, _"Served me for twenty years, never had a problem until Mark showed up."_

"Mark told us this morning he burned it down," said Bruiser.

I said, "No, he helped burned it down. He's just a pawn to a much bigger game."

Rai Rai turned to Bruiser, _"Never met another raichu before, especially one in person."_

Bruiser said in pokémon speech, _"Neither had I until I looked at myself in the mirror."_

 _"You didn't intend to evolve?"_

 _"I had a really bad identity crisis, I still haven't fully recovered. In fact that's why Tesla and I were out here, I broke down and just ran."_

 _"Took a bit of muscle to bring him down,"_ I said.

Rai Rai said, _"When did you first meet a raichu, if you mind me asking?"_

I shrugged. _"I didn't exactly meet one, but I encountered one. He was beating the living shit out of my brother. We were pichus then, I could do nothing but watch as the bully rendered him unconscious."_

Rai Rai looked away. _"Oh, I'm sorry."_

 _"He survived, and I had my vengeance. Broke into a store later that night to get a hold of a neodymium magnet. Such a magnet will stick to any metal surface with the force of a car crusher. My memory was sketchy that night, but I personally believed it was how I got my powers."_

 _"How did you know?"_

 _"I didn't really know, I just felt different. Didn't realize that until I took off Irvin's arm. If you ever wanted to know why I was so hard on you that day, it was because my brother suffered from a raichu. It's an old prejudice from the old days, thankfully it's now dead among the Dixierats."_

Rai Rai suddenly stopped, I turned around asked, _"Anything on your mind?"_

He asked, _"These mice, you know them?"_

 _"No, I don't, but they know me, because I brought them to the world."_

 _"They're your family?"_

I shrugged, _"No, just relatives. Whatever family I could conjure up from the Dixierats are those who knew how to use their brain, and even they are still overwhelming."_

Bruiser said, _"I'm his grandson."_

Rai Rai nodded. _"I can see the resemblance."_

 _"Amazing there is any."_

I said, _"Henry is at Mark's house, but I have to warn you, we have more Dixierats inside and possibly around the place. Now we have a creature called a rikachu, think of him as a merger of a pichu, pikachu, and raichu. Now make him a head taller than you and give him a strength of a bull."_

Rai Rai said, _"He sounds scary."_

 _"Don't worry, he's the friendliest mouse I know, maybe because he knows he's boss. Now note that if he decides to swamp you, I can do nothing to pull him off. He is bred for strength and power. So whatever you do, try to hug him first before he hugs you."_

 _"Will that work?"_

 _"I don't know, Rayovac is unpredictable, and since he is also my grandson I hope that he still listens to me."_

Bruiser said, _"I knew him since we were pichus, when we were lab rats in a cage. We're close, sometimes I feel that he's my only friend."_

We continued the rest of the way back to Mark's house without further conversation. When we got there, we found a few Dixierats lying all over the yard. They sat up, looked at us and smiled before falling back to sleep. I went up to the door and knocked, Mark answered it. "You're back!"

"With Rai Rai," I said.

We walked into the living room where Henry, still sitting on the couch, nearly leaped. "Rai Rai!"

Rai Rai stuck out his stubby arms and made a dash for his trainer, _"Henry!"_

Henry used all of his strength to lift him up on his lap, he leaned back and the two hugged each other like no tomorrow. Volta crawled up to greet me as Bruiser walked up to Ray. The rikachu returned his hug as his cousin approached. Bruiser said, "I'm sorry for hurting you, Ray."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I almost thought that I would never see you again, glad you're still with us, coz."

Volta crawled up to Rai Rai and sniffed his fur. The raichu was skittish, he really tried to move away from her when she started rubbing his side. "Volta," I called out to her. "Careful, he's shy."

Either Volta became deaf for she wasn't listening, the mouse pokémon hopped on top of Rai Rai and gave him a big hug. The raichu, having no idea what to do, hugged back. Henry proceeded to scratch his back in a feeble attempt to calm him down. "Don't worry," he said. "It's just her, not an entire swarm."

 **. . .**

It took about an hour to figure out what the Dixierats did to Rai Rai. He explained that when the Dixierats pinned him down, one of their raichus got on top of him. _"She was around my size,"_ he said. _"But bigger, and furrier. She came in and got on top of me, then got what she wanted."_

 _"What did she take?"_ Volta asked.

 _"I don't know, all I know was the stars were falling, and then she left."_

I asked, _"Where do you think she went?"_

Rai Rai shrugged. _"My best guess is Southeast, toward the wilderness."_

Bruiser asked, _"Should we track her down?"_

Ray shook his head. _"No need, that raichu has claimed dibs on Rai Rai. She'll come back, she knows where to look for him."_

We all went silent for a moment, then Henry asked, "So what happened?"

I translated everything Rai Rai and I just said, "He got raped by a female raichu, who went up and disappeared before Bruiser and I intervened. She'll be back, in which you get to confront her."

"Why did she trap my Rai Rai like that?"

I said, "The Dixierats are repopulating, by the time this is all over their population would double. Maybe triple. They sniffed out Rai Rai because he has a fresh set of genes, they needed him for their long-term survival."

"Why don't they just ask?" Smugleaf asked.

I frowned. "Because, one. Henry is armed and is not in the mood to negotiate. Two, the Dixierats aren't as literate as we are, and most of those whose who literate are in this room."

"It happened so fast," said Henry. "Maybe I should have sneaked out the back door when I had the chance."

I said, "In that case they would have tracked you down and haunt you elsewhere. You can't hide from these Dixierats, they'll find you no matter what."

"What if they find us here?" Mark asked.

I said, "Then they got you to deal with. They don't know Henry, he's just some random guy to them. But they know you, you helped took care of their poacher problem, even though you also exaggerated it. They'll know you're around Andy's level, so I'm guessing you have some push with them. I think your biggest influence on them is you vanquishing their fear of guns."

"I guess that explains why they tolerate being shot at," said Henry.

"Tolerate? They expect it."

Henry got up and stretched his legs. "Mark, did you hear anything from Carley lately?"

"No," he said. "Last I heard she was busy delivering something on the other side of the island. That was the day before yesterday."

Andy came back into the room from the kitchen, in his hands was a pelt from a freshly skinned pikachu. I didn't ask how he got that, I knew he had skinned the dead pikachus. Not that I am bothered by it, he's been doing that for years.

"We're going to need to move somewhere else," he said. "Faraday City is going to fall into anarchy. Chances are people are already looting the stores as we speak."

"It was pretty quiet around Henry's side of the neighborhood. No noise besides alarms and yammering chus."

"Where are we going to go?" I asked.

Andy said, "Irvin's old farmhouse, it has served my family for generations. It will serve us again."

"It's haunted," said Mark. "Whatever Irvin did over there, I think he opened up a hole into another dimension. His pokémon aren't exactly resting in peace."

"You buried Nobark at the cemetery?" I asked.

Mark nodded, "I didn't need to ask where it is, I know where to go and I found it without trouble. The grass is overgrown but the tombstones are still in pristine condition. Before I did anything at all, I had to mow down all that grass so I can get access to his damn grave. Sure enough, his tombstone was already marked for him. I got down and started digging the hole."

"We all watched him dig it," said Smugleaf. "All in the while I felt that we're being watched."

Mark nodded, "The ghosts of Irvin's pokémon were watching us, breathing down our necks. Things got a little tense when I scooped up Nobark's body from the truck. If Nobark's ghost wasn't with them before, he was now."

Andy asked, "Which ghosts? He has dissociative personality disorder. We can assume he has multiple ghosts, each representing his multiple personalities."

"I think it's the one that is Nobark; that made Nobark who he really is. Once I had Nobark in the ground and was burying him, I started hearing their presence."

"What does it sound like?"

"Like running water being muffled, or a gas line hissing."

I was iffy about ghosts. I don't sense ghosts as wandering spirits, I sensed them as old memories, my own imagination. Knowing Irvin, I have no doubt he unknowingly poked a hole through our dimension over his farmhouse. He wanted to keep his pokémon close to home. They're still there, buried on the property, still bound to their Pokémon Master.

Still bound to me.

"Alright then," I said. "Let's go over to the farmhouse and set up camp, if the whole island is on the verge of civil war we better stay away from the urban areas. If my dead friends' spirits are really there, my presence would bring them light."

Andy said, "If we're going over there, we should get Matt. His house is compromised and those raichus will be overwhelmed."

"Aren't there really any beds over there," Mark said. "Just the couches, which smelled like death."

I said, "You didn't touch them, did you?"

"No, I know what stupid shit went on in those couches. I found more than enough photos of said shit."

"Well then, what are we waiting for? The Dixierats can handle themselves, we just gotta move our base of operation elsewhere before Interpol comes knocking."

"Why worry about Interpol?" Mark asked.

"Two completely different reasons, Andy's Dixie plague and our little stint from Soho."

Mark stared at the floor for a moment. "Shit."

 **. . .**

Mark got his truck packed within ten minutes. He didn't take much, just the cot, some food and water, and some firearms. All the PRA troops got in the back. Henry had Rai Rai sit in front with Mark so he could keep an eye on everyone else in the back, Mark's pikachu and cheering pokémon were recalled into their poké balls. Emolga stayed by Mark's side, as usual. I road in the back of Andy's rental, Ray got the front seat as usual. Bruiser, Volta, and I sat in the back as before. I wasn't very enthusiastic about this, I was returning to a shell that served as my home for half a century. Too many memories happened there, most of whatever happened there was buried. I guess it was time to turn it over to a new generation, perhaps to make things right once more.

As we got onto the road, I turned to Volta. "You sure grew attached to Smugleaf and Wotter."

"They're so delicate," she said.

"They were born and raised that way, the reason why they were so depressed because that was taken away from them. Wotter used to be like you when I first met him, until his trainer expunged him."

"Why?" she asked.

"Profit was the motivator, but the real reason was that he finally had enough of the dewott's shit. Even though Nobark saved him from a life in Team Rocket captivity, Wotter was changed forever. You don't need to know this, but he raped Cabot's emolga and other countless pokémon for the past fifteen years."

"Damn," said Andy. "I looked at Wotter's wounds, I've seen neutered pokémon before but it wasn't clean. Like someone took a large knife and stabbed him."

"Wotter raped his last victim, a pink oshawott named Bubbles. Smugleaf was quite attached to the oshawott, so she ambushed him and violently neutered him."

Bruiser covered his mouth. "Fuck."

"Tendon, one of Nobark's inner circle of the PRA, treated him. She is dead now, along with Bubbles and Cabot's emolga. The second attack on Soho consumed them. Smugleaf, Wotter, and Woody survived the carnage because I pulled them to safety. Not too long after, Nobark finally lost it and gave me these wounds you see here."

Then a thought rose up in my mind. I recalled that I also sent two swoobats with Mark to Faraday Island. Both were PRA scouts, one of them was injured from a thunderstorm that rolled into the area, the other I had dragged into the fold for his own sake. Both swoobats were just as destroyed as Smugleaf and Wotter, I haven't seen them once when I returned to Faraday Island.

When we got to Matt's house, the raichu guards were still there as tasked. We parked by the curb and we got out. I caught up with Mark as he stepped out of his pickup. "Mark, where's the swoobats?"

Mark said, "I sent the female to the pokémon hospital so she could recover from her injuries. The male took off one day without warning, he could be anywhere by now."

"You didn't bother looking for him?"

"He'll come back sooner or later, I got a feeling he's doing fine. Lonely perhaps, but once he figures out you're here he will come for you."

"That's too much to hope for, guess we can't worry about him now."

Andy walked up to the broken front door and knocked, Matt answered within seconds. "What's going on?"

"We gotta get out of the city," said Andy. "Soon as possible."

Matt thought for a moment. "I'll get a few things, wait for a sec."

He left for a few seconds and came back with a small briefcase and a fire box, I watched him load them into his car. "Where we going?"

"Irvin's old place."

"There's nothing there anymore."

"That's the idea, nobody would think of coming around to that place."

"What about Emmett, should we tell him?"

"We tell him after we get everybody over to the farmhouse. Come on, we can't waste any more time."

Matt's just a few years under 90, and yet he still have his driver's license. I watched as he got into his car and started it up, we were all back in our own cars soon after.

I asked Andy, "You remember the house is at, right?"

"Yes, I know where it is. I used to come over there every day just to see you."

"Then lead the way."

Andy pulled back out onto the road. Mark waited for Matt to pull out of his driveway to follow him, then Mark tailed right behind his grandfather. We drove through the neighborhood and reached a backroad out of Faraday Island. This road leads straight on to the port city of Carson, Irvin's house is somewhere in between that route. We found the road without a problem. It wasn't blocked off as it was supposed to, and it showed no signs of recent use. Andy crossed the border between suburbia and the wilderness. The old road map of Faraday Island flickered in my head, old memories that hadn't been refreshed in two decades.

"I used to go hiking by myself out in Faradian wilderness, just to get away from everyone's bullshit. I needed time to take a break from the world so I could remember who I really was."

"And who are you really?" Andy asked.

"Just a wild pikachu who was born in the sticks. I was raised to be a pest, not the pikachu as you know me."

We drove down the natural curves of the road for a short time, then approached a fenced off area. The fences were rod-iron, the sign _Faraday City Cemetery_ came to view.

"Andy, let's stop here for a moment."

"Here, why?"

"I want to see an old friend."

 **. . .**

Matt knew right away why we stopped, but not Mark. I could tell on the look on his face as he parked his pickup and rejoined us. He didn't say anything, but he obviously knew it was important. Rai Rai, Henry, and the PRA grouped around us. I'm guessing they wanted to see what was here. Smugleaf knew right away where we were. Her eyes bulged open from the sight of the tombstones, but said nothing.

"Follow me," I said.

We passed the cemetery gate and made our way toward the back of the lot. They gave me the chills, which was something I didn't expect. I kept on going, following the route from a half-forgotten memory. I made it toward the back and found the _W_ section. Next we took a small dirt path and made our way further down, passing more family graves. I kept on going until I saw the surname _Westinghouse._

The family group was ancient, full of a dozen or so Westinghouses from another time. There was one grave I was here for, a more current grave. I found that grave and approached it. I dropped to my knees. There, inscribed on the tombstone, was Irvin Westinghouse.

"Oh shit," I heard Mark muttered.

 _"Oh the feels,"_ his Emolga muttered.

"It happened without warning," I said. "It was a drive like any other in Irvin's red convertible. I was in the back, while Matt was riding shotgun up front. Irvin was in the middle of telling an old story, about how we went into this small town in Unova. He cheated and gambled some money out of the common folk, while I, after just a couple of drinks, thought it was a good idea to poop in the village well. He came running out of that town wearing nothing but his limey pikachu underpants. I managed to get away from the mob, Irvin did not. I couldn't stop laughing when he came back to the nearby pokémon center, looking like he had been through Agartha and back."

Mark and Andy chuckled.

I continued, "Irvin got halfway through the story before slumping over the steering wheel. Matt grabbed the steering wheel and we crashed into a light pole on a three-way. As he called for the police, I tried my best to resuscitate him, I was so desperate that they had to pull me off to get Irvin in the ambulance."

"You were in a trance-like state," said Matt.

"That's because I had slipped into shock, I was in denial."

I let that hang for a moment, then I continued, "Matt got behind the wheel and we drove to the Faraday City Pokémon Hospital, we waited until nightfall hoping Irvin was alright. Then we got official confirmation that he had passed away. That was the last day of the Westinghouse Era, when everything Irvin had built for his pokémon started crumbling around us."

Andy scanned the other graves of his ancestors. A lot of them were single tombstone, there were occasional pairs of married couple but overall much of the family is single. They all go back seven generations, each one repeating the mistakes of the last.

"Too bad the city banned burials," he said. "I heard there is plans for emptying out this cemetery."

Matt said, "The plan was put on hold due to a petition, which called for a skyscraper to house the dead."

"Copying Lavender City's tower of death, I presume."

Volta brushed up against my side, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders as I stared at Irvin's name. Smugleaf approached the grave, then backed away. "I didn't get to attend Alice's funeral after she was killed, I was put up for adoption. I panicked, I didn't know what to do, so I ran away. Denial, the need for love, and hormones rolled over me. Things were fun, for a while, and then Nobark found me and took me in."

Woody looked off toward the distance. _"Wow, you can see the city's skyline from here."_

I looked up, the tops of Faraday City's tallest skyscrapers were sticking over the edge. _"The light travels so far that you can see it from Mt. Faraday."_

I turned around and started walking back toward the road. "Let's go, we got other old friends waiting for us."

 **. . .**

The rest of the way toward Irvin's old farm was smooth and relaxing. The Faradian Department of Transportation did a good job in paving out the road system, naturally curving through the valleys and old creek beds. The power, water, and sewage lines were buried by the ditch of the road, giving easy access to utilities while keeping it safe from the harsh forces of nature. I've been around long enough to see the DOT repave the same old roads every ten years, they would always do it at night in the heat of summer to avoid disturbing commuters. The road we were traveling on used to be the main highway, until the DOT upgraded and made a larger inter district system that paved a straight line toward the capital. Now it was just a back road, a well-made backroad that had gone quiet since I was away.

"Oh look," said Andy. "The Dixierats are traveling down this road."

Since I was sitting in the middle, I couldn't see what was going on. I asked, "How many?"

"Just two, possibly the Dixierats are bushwhacking to remain undetected but a few will use the roads to avoid getting lost. This is a new land for them, they are already starting to memorize the major landmarks."

That was when we began to slow down. "There it is, Irvin's old mailbox. I wonder if there is any mail in it."

Andy drove up on the old gravel road and stopped beside the mailbox. "Ray, can you pop open the mailbox and take a peek inside."

"Sure, Andy." Ray got out and opened up the mailbox, I could hear Matt and Mark driving up behind us. Ray got back in and shut the door. "Found something, looks fresh."

That caught my attention. "What is it?" I asked.

"Looks like a letter addressed to Westinghouse, by the Faradian Department of State."

"Is it marked important?"

"No, no red stamps or printing. Seems courteous though."

We continued up the gravel driveway. Old memories resonated in my mind, this place felt more of a prison than a home. "Looks like somebody was here recently," said Andy. "I was expecting weeds and grass, but somebody mowed them all down."

"Could be Mark," I said. "He was out here to bury Nobark, maybe he went out of his way and mowed all the grass."

The old farmhouse came into view, the site of it sent chills down my spine. It had fallen into disrepair for the past twenty years. The solar panels on the roof were bleached and cracked, all the windows were sealed with rotting plywood. We all parked up in front of the garage and got out. I stepped foot on the gravel, I knew that feeling all too well. So much shit had happened here that I could feel the history trying to strangle me.

Matt came around and surveyed the area, Mark casually followed behind him. "Hey, Mark. You mowed the grass around the farmhouse too?"

"Yup," he said. "Took me two hours, I gotta show the ghosts here I care about this place. So I got out my gardening tools and trimmed the grass, ripping out the weeds and such. I came home sore, but I got it all done."

"You mowed the grass around the graveyard?" I asked.

"I had to do that first so I can bury Nobark, everything is trimmed down as it should be."

I said, "How nice of you."

The PRA crawled up and surveyed the area. They were curious, wanting to learn about the history of their former leader. Henry and Rai Rai were hesitant to approach the house, probably because of their previous paranormal experience. Probably because they were trespassing, they weren't supposed to be there. "You still have the key to the old place, Matt?" Andy asked.

"I think I do," he said. "Unless Mark has it."

"I made a copy and returned the original to you," he said. "But here, I can get in."

Before Mark could even get near the front door, the door unlatched and opened itself.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	17. Chapter 17

_Chapter 17_

We all jumped as the front door creaked open, almost as if it we were invited. I had doubted Mark's theory of ghosts in this place, but now I was flabbergasted. This place was indeed haunted, still holding the souls of my dead friends, who were forever bound to this place by Irvin's legacy.

We all just stood there staring that the door, hesitant to enter. I snapped out of it and started approaching the open door. "Tesla," said Matt. "Be careful."

I shot a look at him. "Matt, these are Irvin's pokémon here. They may be dead but that doesn't mean they are going to hurt us. I'm still their leader, they opened the door for us because they are welcoming me back home. I own the place now, they have no say so to drive us out."

"Why is that?" Mark asked.

"They're bound to this place not because of Irvin. No, he merely gave the order. I was the one who brought them to this place when they were eggs. When they hatched, they were conditioned to obey Irvin, and I was the one who carry out the punishments and rewards. He wanted somebody on their level to do it, just to avoid the risk of oppression."

Mark walked up to the house and poked his head inside. "It had that horrid pokémon smell, stronger than the last time I entered this place."

I poked my head through the gap and sniffed the air. "Not as strong for me, I'm used to it."

Mark's emolga shivered on his shoulder, he picked her up and cradled her in his arms. "Come on, we better get unpacked. Ghosts or no ghosts."

Andy walked right in and clicked on the flashlight. "Not sure if we could get the power up and running, this place hadn't been renovated in twenty years."

"But we can pull all the boards off the window," I said. "We need to fill this house with light before we can enter. I know this paranormal thing is bullshit but we gotta play it as it is."

 **. . .**

Mark got a pair of crowbars out of his truck and handed one to Henry. They both started tearing down the plywood off the windows. It wasn't nailed into place per se, but was sealed with some sort of glue. The glue had deteriorated enough that Mark and Henry were able to break down the plywood with ease. After they piled all the wood in front of the garage, we all stepped inside the house. The place no longer had blinds on the windows, light shined through unhindered. The walls were still tan, having yet to flake. The floor was still glistening as I had remembered it. But that was it, everything else was cleaned out. The reference posters on the walls, gone. The furniture, gone. Just silhouettes and bright spots marked where they once were. It reminded me of the good old times I used to have with my old friends. Now there was nothing here but the house…

And three old musty couches.

Smugleaf saw the couches were inviting and tried to get on one of them, but I caught her hand. "You don't want to get on them. Those couches are filled with all sorts of mold and dust particles, not to mention Irvin's pokémon had pissed, shit, and cummed on them for the past fifty years."

Her eyes went wide. "Oh."

"If it comforts you, most of it on the middle couch belongs to Nobark. But don't take my word for it, those couches should have been burned a long time ago."

We all stood there in silence, listening. The smell had grown stronger, I sensed their presence.

"They're just watching us?" Mark asked.

I said, "They know I was back when I first set foot on the Island at the docks. My presence is easing their pain."

"How?" Matt asked.

"Cause they trust me, or maybe because I was the one who trapped them here."

Mark turned to me. "So they haunt this place because of you?"

I nodded. "They didn't choose to come here, I made the choice for them. Of course they would think for themselves sometimes but overall, if I give an order, or Irvin gives an order, they would follow it without question. Simply to put, I control the dead."

Henry asked, "So what can we do for them?"

I said, "We make this place livable again. Get the power up and running so we can get the ventilation system running, move all this stale air out and freshen this place. The couches of course, needs to go. We'll take them out back and burn them."

"Will that upset the ghosts?" Andy asked. "I remember the bunch getting upset one time when I was putting up new posters, they don't like change."

"I always contemplated about getting rid of the couches. Good thing they weren't moved, they wanted me to foresee their destruction."

Mark went out to the car. "We'll unload the truck, then we'll survey the whole place and see what it needs."

I turned to Woody. _"Woody, you want to go with Mark to get some things?"_

The timburr nodded, _"Sure, I wanna be productive for once."_

 **. . .**

The first thing we did was open up all the windows. The smell mostly dissipated once fresh air circulated around the house. Next we checked the battery bank to see if it was still functional. Mark and I didn't find any signs of leakage or foaming on the old storage battery, but a part of me didn't trust it. I was worried it would explode if it takes a small charge. After Mark checked what kind of lightbulbs and air filter the house needed, he took Woody and his emolga and went out to Carson for supplies.

While the other pokémon was lounging around in the main room, I traveled down memory lane by exploring the others. They were also mothballed. My old friends' bedrooms have been cleaned out, nothing left but the bed frames. Nobark's old concrete cot was still there though. I could tell it was recently disturbed, which backed up Mark's story on how he got Nobark's essays. I stepped into Irvin's bedroom to see what was left. The bedframe was still there, along with his old cedar trunk. Everything else was expunged, hard to believe I used to sleep here for most of my life.

I heard footsteps up in the attic above me, the ceiling creaked as tiny footsteps scampered up above. I returned to the living room to check on everyone. Matt and Andy were talking out on the back porch, Henry was tending to his raichu, Ray, Bruiser, and Volta were accounted for, and the PRA soldiers were also present.

Everybody was accounted for, which means somebody was in the attic.

I went up to Ray and nudged his butt. "Ray, I need your help with something."

The rikachu sat up and yawned, "Okay."

I went to the utility room by the kitchen as Ray followed behind me. The attic door was right above, its string dangling from its center. "Boost me up."

Ray picked me up and held me up to the string, I grabbed it and he pulled me back down. The attic door came down, extended itself, and planted on the floor for anyone to enter. "Don't let anybody up here until I come down," I said. "Whatever is up there is for me only."

"What is up there?" Ray asked.

I shrugged, "Nothing, perhaps. But I just wanna be sure."

I started up the ladder and climbed into the darkness of the attic. The only light up there was two opposing windows on the sides of the house. Enough for me to see, but not enough to make out much detail. I walked across the floorboards of the ceiling, scanning for any anomalies. I caught whiff of the old familiar stench. It was strong, but it could mean a lot of things. So far I saw nothing but wooden walls. The whole place was empty, so why would anybody be up here?

It was when I reached the back where I heard the footsteps where I found the source. Sitting in the corner was a shadowy figure, just a dark outline of an emolga. Mark had taken his emolga with him to Carson, so it wasn't that emolga. The figure was curled into a ball, crying, but made no sound. I approached the figure, it didn't move one bit. I took a deep breath and reached out. When I touched its fur, the shadows bled away to reveal the emolga. The fur felt familiar, then I realized who it really was.

"Flashlight."

The emolga's ears twitched, he held his head up and looked at me. His eye was missing, just a bloody hole from the bullet that killed him. His chest cavity and abdomen were torn open, exposing the mutilated organs inside. Flashlight's ghost looked exactly like how I last saw him alive. Fifty or so years ago, Flashlight climbed up one of the tallest trees on the property. Just before he got to the top, he slipped and fell. He landed on a branch in such a way that it tore open his gut. When he hit the ground, he broke his back and his pelvis was pulverized. Irvin made it clear how hard it is for him to put it down, so he handed the infamous .357 magnum for Nobark to do the deed. He didn't have the heart to shoot Flashlight, so he handed the gun to me and I ended him.

I didn't feel much at the time, I was used to death. But this was different, I was looking at his soul. He had been wondering the darkness for years, alone, still suffering agony from his final moments. There wasn't much I could do for Flashlight now, and he knows this.

I felt my heart sank into the pit of my stomach when I watch the entity flop on his gut and tried to crawl toward me. He made no sound, but I could imagine his cries. I sat down and pulled the entity up onto my lap. His fur and scent smells just as I had remembered it, but he also smelled like earth and vegetation. I held his head up so his one eye was facing me. I cradled his head and rubbed his back, I winced when I felt the detached vertebrae through the ghostly fur.

"What's wrong, Flashlight?" I asked him.

Flashlight tried to speak, but he gave off no sound. When he realized I couldn't hear him, I caught glimpse of a ghostly tear trailing down his cheek.

"You don't have to cry anymore, I've got you. I'm here, with a new generation. Let me guess, were you crying because of your end?"

Flashlight shook his head no.

"You were crying because I was gone?"

He nodded yes.

"You know Irvin has been dead for twenty years?"

He nodded yes.

I said, "Something big is happening, the Island is now demanding independence from Unova. You remember Irvin taking me to the breeding program?"

He nodded yes.

"It was all for one purpose, he built up an army of my own relatives. He cultivated them and had unleashed them into the island, are you aware of this?"

Flashlight stared at me for a moment, then nodded.

"I can't do more for you, Flashlight. I wish I could. Maybe I could dig up your remains and prop them up on top of that tree, just show you finally conquered that damn thing."

Flashlight managed a smile, I felt his cold soul starting to warm up.

I smiled, "There's the emolga I remembered."

Without warning I felt his broken back shift, Flashlight jerked and screamed in silent agony. I cradled his head and lifted him up. "Hold still."

I grabbed him by the armpits and wrapped my other arm by his waist, then pulled. I felt his back pop back into position, Flashlight stopped screaming. His face broke down in relief. "I'm not sure what I did," I said. "But I think that fixed it."

Flashlight cracked one final smile, and then his ghost faded from existence. Now I was feeling nothing but undisturbed air. Whatever I did, I couldn't change Flashlight's situation, but I think I made it bearable for him.

 **. . .**

"You were up there quite a while," said Ray as I climbed back down the attic steps, "is everything alright?"

"Yes," I said. "Things are fine, for now."

"Unless you mind me asking, did you find what you were looking for up there?"

I nodded, "Just old memories, I think that should stop the attic floorboards from creaking for a while."

"Creaking?"

I frowned, "You haven't heard anybody walking up there?"

"No, not even you."

We returned to the main room, the atmosphere feels bright despite the weight of civil war overhead. Ray asked, "Was this place always nice?"

"Yes," I said. "Even on bad days, this place is beautiful. You should see how deep the snow can get here."

"How deep?"

I raised my hand. "Right up to your nose, and it can get _really_ cold here in winter."

Ray whistled, "Snow isn't usually that bad in Unova."

"Bad doesn't cut it under a winter storm in Faraday."

I joined Matt and Andy out on the porch. Matt was leaning against the railing, looking out toward the grassland of the old Westinghouse farm. Andy was walking around, inspecting something around the sidings.

"Sure brings back a lot of memories," said Matt to no one in particular.

I jumped up on the railing beside Matt. "I would sit here and watch Irvin's pokémon play during the summer, sometimes they would lounge around the yard so they could get some sun. You remember that night when Faraday City had its first official blackout?"

"I was at home when the power went out, I locked the doors and wished for morning. How did it go for you?"

"I felt like going out and being a pest, much in the way my parents taught me. So I gathered up some of Irvin's pokémon and we made the hike toward Faraday City."

"What did you do?"

"Loot and steal shit. Everybody was young and in their prime, I was already an old pokémon, but that didn't stop me from reliving my roots." I chuckled. "We hit half a dozen convenient stores, grabbing alcohol, soda, porn, and all sorts of junk food. As for me, I went and grabbed all the cash out of the registers as I could, even down to the pennies."

Matt glanced at me. "Did Irvin know this?"

"Know this? He came home that morning and saw a random pickup truck in the driveway, and all of this pokémon lying all over the floor, completely slammed. Not to mention he also hauled in a huge flat screen TV, so we got that going for us."

Matt thought for a moment. "He said he commandeered that TV when I asked him about it, didn't give much specifics." Then he said, "Wait, you came back in a pickup truck?"

"Yeah, we used it to bring all the loot back home."

"How did you get a hold of a pickup truck?"

"We stole it, actually I stole it, at random. The fun part about it was trying to coordinate the gas and brake pedal with the other pokémon while trying not to fly off the seat. To make it real redneck everybody was already getting drunk and they were spilling beer everywhere, which was fun at the time. Once we were out of the city though the drive back to the farm was smooth as apple pie. When we made it back home we all started unloading our loot. I could remember seeing Nobark as he was waddling back inside, his pelt overstuffed with porn and sex toys. We all laughed when he face-planted on the ground after tripping at the door."

"Did you party?" Ray asked.

"We all did, everybody was downing a hot-tail of drugs, alcohol, and junk food. As for me, I stayed sober just to make sure they won't hurt themselves. I think there were all sorts that they had the urge to do, because they were doing it. Hyper-sex and masturbation was thrown into the fray, I remember a young Med downing three liter size bottles of coke as Nobark was giving her a blow job. I think that they never had that much fun before or since that night."

"What was the following morning like?" Matt asked.

I smiled, "Hangover, nothing to it. Everybody was burping, farting, moaning from headaches and bellyaches. Irvin came home to it all, and after getting his new TV set up, I helped him getting everybody cleaned up and put into bed. It took an entire week for everybody to recover enough to go back to their daily routines."

Andy returned to the porch and looked out toward the backyard. "After we get this house fixed up, I should move in. I could take in the PRA and let them live here, I'm not sure how they'll like me though."

"Why you say that?"

Andy glanced back toward the sliding door. "That trust issue is a problem. Woody is not a problem, he's very eager to befriend us. The pansear has no personal long-term commitments, but he need somebody to guide him in his life. Wotter and Smugleaf are the highest priority, they aren't very responsive and their history isn't helping."

I turned to Ray. "Rayovac, you took Smugleaf to bed the other night. How did that go?"

"She latched onto me like butter," he said. "Obviously she doesn't trust me, but she convinced herself she had no other choice. It's the cold that is bothering her, Tes. She needs a heat source or she'll risk hypothermia."

I stepped back inside the house and scanned for Smugleaf. I found her laying on the floor underneath a sunbeam from a nearby window. "Looks like she found her heat source."

The front door opened and Mark stepped on through, carrying grocery bags in his arms. Woody followed behind, holding a ventilation filter over his head. Emolga was still perched on Mark's shoulder as always, she looked like she hadn't moved. We all came back inside as Mark sat the supplies on the wall counter. "Carson knows something is up, but isn't sure what. There's already a line of cars up to the fuel station, waiting to get ethanol and hydrogen."

"What did you get?" Matt asked.

"LED lightbulbs, an air filter, and some food and water. I also bought a radio, just in case we need to know what is going on outside."

Mark set up the radio in question, it was a weather radio with a built-in hand generator. Woody tore open a fresh pack of batteries and slipped them into the radio. He flipped the switch and the channels were filled with static. _"No signal?"_ Woody fiddled around with the FM frequencies, then switched to AM. _"Still nothing."_

Henry got up and joined Mark in unloading his truck. He got two packs of water and coke, a portable induction stove, several folding cots, a cooking pot, and some canned food. "I'm going to need to go back home to clean up the place," said Mark. "I don't think my dad is going to return anytime soon."

I asked, "What about bringing some things from home, and from Matt's place as well?"

"I'll do that, hopefully Martial law hasn't been declared."

Mark pulled out his poké balls and called out his pikachu and cheering pokémon. They all materialized before him, their faces showed they already knew what he was planning.

"Stay here, guys," he said. "If I were to get caught by the FPD, I don't want you to get dragged into this mess.

Emolga started whining, Mark simply plucked her off his shoulder and sat them with his pokémon. "I'm not arguing about this, guys. I'll be back around evening, if I'm not back by midnight then that's the time to get worried."

Henry got up from the floor. "I better go with you and help, the situation in the city might have escalated."

"You know what you're getting?" Andy asked.

"Everything that is essential and important," said Mark. "I better go right away to avoid the worst of anarchy. I'll see you guys later."

He crouched and scooped up his pokémon for one final hug, then sat them down. Henry and Mark walked out the front door, shutting it behind them. Rai Rai and Mark's pokémon stretched out their arms, still begging for them to stay. They weren't used to being left behind like that, I personally think that they would never get used to it. Just as their eyes started flooding with tears. Volta and Ray stepped in to comfort them. Smugleaf rose from her nap, looked up and saw Mark's emolga crying. The sky squirrel quickly took notice of her and frantically sprinted toward Smugleaf. The snivy invited her into her arms and the two stayed by the other's side till nightfall.

 **. . .**

After Mark left Andy and Matt reinstalled all the lightbulbs within the house. I don't know why, but it pains me to watch them remove the old CFLs from their sockets. Perhaps they were installed by Irvin back in the day, I recalled that he used to do his own electrical wiring around the house. Back when I was 67, a law was passed by the Faradian General Assembly requiring all houses on the Island to produce and store its own power. Solar and battery power were fiddly then, they weren't as efficient as today's technology. I remember looking down from Irvin's shoulders as he unfolded the blueprints of the old house, marking areas to where he would install new electrical outlets. A lot of drywall was ripped out and replaced in a span of four days. New sockets were installed, I watched Irvin screw in the lightbulbs and flip their switches for the first time. I know, it's stupid to worry about old lightbulbs. But I cared about Irvin, it hurts to see his work being undone.

I watched as Andy and Matt piled up all those same lightbulbs in the sink, just to avoid breaking them and releasing the mercury vapor. I climbed up on top of the wall counter and picked one of them up. The base was yellowing, but the actual CFL was still white as I remembered. I resonated a charge into the bulb, it sputtered for a brief moment before its tiny circuit board popped.

"You okay, Tesla?" Matt asked as he placed the last few bulbs in the sink.

I put the broken lightbulb back into the sink. "Good call for Mark to change out these bulbs, they haven't worked in years and won't sustain a charge. What a shame, there's so much history in them."

"You remember when Irvin first installed the solar panels?"

"I remember it like it happened yesterday. That's the thing, anything you touch here has ancient history because we've seen them since they were new. Say, Matt, what happened to most of Irvin's possessions?"

"I auctioned them off, but I donated the most precious items to the Faraday City Museum."

"Like your old tesla coil?"

"That too, you remember that day when we first met?"

I looked at Matt. "You gave me a name and an identity, even though you were just a child."

"There's a reason why that hole in my wall was never fixed."

"I suspected as much."

Andy came back into the room. "Okay," he said as he wadded up the lightbulb packaging. "They're all installed, let's see if the old circuits still work."

"Here," I said. "Let me flip the switch. That breaker box is forty years old and has never been used in half that time. If it short-circuits, I can absorb the shock."

Ray walked up to me. "Let me give you a boost, I can handle a surge too."

"Fine with me."

I jumped on Ray's head and we walked into the utility room. The breaker box was mounted just by the door. It was partially rusted and dusty. The tag on the panel confirmed it was forty years old. I located the main breaker and Ray boost me up. "Okay," I said, grabbing the switch. "Turning on!"

A light hum reverberated through the house as the ancient electrical system spurred to life. Small LEDs on the panel lit up. A series of five horizontal diodes told me the battery life of the storage unit. It read around twenty-five to fifty percent. The series of diodes that measures solar panel efficiency were black, must have to do with the cracked panel. Overall, the whole house was being powered once more.

And then a thought came to mind. Faraday Island is on a smart grid system, surely they would discover someone was tapping the grid from the old Westinghouse place. Hopefully that would be overlooked, I wished the batteries and solar panels were working so I didn't have to worry about it.

Ray reached out to the wall and flipped the switch. The new lightbulb from above came on as it should, giving off a blueish-white glow. "The new lightbulb works!"

Matt came into the room and saw the lightbulb. "You said Irvin did his own electrical wiring around the house?"

"Yes, he did. I think he tweaked the energy meter so we could get free power from the national grid, the Department of Energy has yet to catch his handiwork."

"They didn't have a smart-grid system then, they'll surely figure it out."

"Yes, they would. But not now. The blown transformers are a high priority for the moment."

I got down from Ray. "Hang on, let's see what's in the old garage. Has the tools in the garage been moved at all, Matt?"

Matt shook his head. "No, last time I been in there I simply removed all the trash and sealed up the garage."

I left the utility room and made my way toward the garage, Ray happily followed behind. Just when I reached the door, Matt called out to me. "Uh, Tes?! I don't think you wanna go in there!"

Ray opened up the door for me, I turned to Matt and asked, "Why don't I wanna go in here?"

Before he could respond, Ray turned on the garage lights and I peaked inside. Sitting on the other side of the room was Irvin's red convertible.

I knew what it was despite the dust cover encompassing the car. I knew that general shape, knew how it smelled and run. I haven't seen the car since the day after Irvin's funeral. Every time I thought back about the car ride, I assumed it was junked. But no, it was kept and stored here. Forgotten, until I unearthed it.

For a moment, I couldn't breathe.

Ray whistled. "Look at that beauty!"

The mutant mouse pokémon pushed me into the room, I sensed Matt and Andy following behind. I walked to the corner, getting as far away from that car as possible. Andy, also impressed, walked up to the convertible. "I haven't seen this classic beauty in years!"

Matt said, "I couldn't junk it, didn't have the heart for it. So I drove it in here one day, parked it in the garage, and left it where it is to this day."

Andy grabbed the covers and pulled it off, unveiling the entire automobile. Sure it enough, it was the convertible. Though it was dusty and covered in rust spots, the car was just like I had last remembered it.

"Tesla," Matt asked. "You're feeling alright?"

"I'm overwhelmed," I said. "But I'm not going to faint."

Andy opened up the driver-side door and unfolded the top, it retracted into its back compartment and sealed itself up. I mustered the courage to approach the car, I got up on to trunk and inspected the inside. The tan leather seats were cracked and molding, but it still had its characteristic smell.

I finally breathed. "Irvin bought the car months before the blackout. Chris, took it out for a ride with his girlfriend on that very night. They drove it up to Mt. Faraday to see the sights, and then they had sex in the back seat."

"My parents?" Andy asked.

I said, "Yeah, nobody told you?"

Matt said, "Uh, nobody did."

I smiled, "Well, as we were all reeling from our hangover. Chris drove the car back into the garage without attracting any attention and made a run for it. I know, I caught him in the act. I was expecting Irvin to show up but he got here first. I didn't confront him, I didn't wanna ruin his time. I just watch him drove in and run out. I got the whole story three weeks later when we got word that Sally was pregnant."

Andy's eyes bulged, "Wait a minute, you're telling me I was conceived in the backseat?"

I broke out laughing, "And born in the backseat, we used that same car to pick Sally up nine months later so we could get her to the hospital! From what Irvin told me, she plopped you on the seat before we rolled into Faraday City!"

Andy pressed his hands against his head. "Oh damn, how come nobody told me this?!"

"You were born by accident, the condom broke. Chris didn't know about it until after the deed was done, he kept it a secret until Sally's doctor spilled the beans. We kept it a secret so we can spare you the stigma from being an illegitimate child."

Andy thought for a moment. "You know, that explains a lot. I had lived here for much of my life, I didn't met my parents until I was twelve. I know they both married, but it didn't last."

"Typical teenage love affairs, I've seen it all."

Matt asked, "When's the last time you seen your dad?"

"I last talked to him a few months ago, he's still around. He's at the retirement home, doing fine. Not sure how he's handling the mess right now."

I tried hanging on to that thought, but it slipped my mind. My smile dropped and my heart sank into the pit of my stomach. I dropped down into the car seat and sat in the middle, the last place and angle I saw Irvin alive. It felt like a coffin.

I was more than eager to get out when Ray opened the door. I jumped down on the concrete floor and flexed my arms and legs. "Uh, I need to get some fresh air. Excuse me."

I stepped out of the garage and made my way through the living room. The sun was about to set, all the pokémon had set up the cots and sleeping mats and were laying on them. They were talking about themselves, their history and common interests. It's soothing that they're getting to know each other, but they have yet to know the real me. I stepped back out onto the back deck and crawled up to the edge.

I couldn't help but puke that morning's breakfast and lunch, everything just came out like a geyser. I coughed out the last of my vomit out into the freshly cut grass and took a deep breath, then I broke down crying.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	18. Chapter 18

_Chapter 18_

I cried myself out on the porch before catching my breath. I felt sick, nauseous. Irvin's farm was infected with history, I don't know how my pikachu brain could recall it all. I glanced out into the yard toward the direction of the pokémon graveyard. A final resting place was guaranteed for his pokémon, but what about for me? My reputation would force a mad grab for my body. I tried to imagine a worst case scenario, I concluded that a poképhiliac would steal my body and turn me into a sex doll given the chance. Best case scenario is having my body stashed in a museum and forgotten.

Neither situation felt reassuring, I climbed up to my feet and glanced out into the yard again. The tree that Flashlight climbed up and fell to his death was still there. It was dead and rotting. The part where Flashlight got disemboweled had something on it, perhaps it was still coated with blood and fur from that fateful day. I stared at it long enough to where I could recreated the event in my head.

Flashlight's ghost appeared again, this time lying on the spot where he died. It wasn't easy to see his ghost, it was clouded with shadows and the growing darkness of the setting sun. I didn't bother going out there to investigate. I knew what had happened and I had saw it happen, Flashlight was just giving me a friendly reminder of how he died. A reminder that I do not need. I stared at his ghost for a few seconds and watched it fade within the shadows. I nauseous again, I wanted to throw up my GI tract and be done with it. Instead I gulped it down and went back inside.

Matt and Andy was just coming out from the garage. I called out to them, "You guys think you could get that car back up and running?"

"Maybe," said Andy. "But not now."

Andy's eyes scanned me, I had long forgotten he was a pokémon doctor. I still remembered him as the baby who was born in the back seat of the convertible, the teenager who bust his head open, and the young adult who shielded me from embarrassment. Despite it all, he turned to be a pokémon doctor but was still the same Andy as I had remembered him.

"You got enough fresh air, Tes?" he asked.

"For a while, yeah. Sorry about that, the car had so much history to it."

Ray climbed up on one of the cots and stretched his legs across it. "When are we going to eat dinner?"

"Soon as Mark gets back," said Andy. "He should be back within a few hours."

 **. . .**

Just when the sun had set, the power went out. No pops, clicks, or explosions, it just went out without warning. Andy checked the distribution board and found nothing wrong with it. "Looks like the DOE had sniffed out our ruse, or maybe it means we're about to be invaded by the SWAT team."

I said, "It's 20:00, not 04:00. The SWAT team wouldn't attempt a raid this early."

"Or another transformer blew out," said Matt.

"Well, whatever the case. I'm flipping off the breakers to the rooms we're not using, hopefully that does something."

I frowned, "Oh sure, that will do a lot of good."

Andy flipped the breakers and rejoined us in the living room. Now we're sitting in pitch blackness, waiting for sunrise. The old fireplace still ran off of natural firewood, unfortunately we don't have any wood to burn. We were caught unprepared. Mark's pokémon huddled around each other, hanging on to the dear hope that their trainer would return. I guess this had become a waiting game, hoping for Mark to return and bring salvation.

"Quick question," I said. "Is the water turned on?"

Andy got up and went to the utility room to check the main water line, he then came back to the living room. "It should be."

I got off my cot and walked to the bathroom. It smelled musty and old, the big bathtub was covered in crust and Irvin's famous walk-in shower was covered in water buildup. I knew this house like the back of my hand, I had no trouble navigating the darkness as I jump on top of the sink and turned the faucet. There was a thud, then water spewed out in full blast. The toilet's reservoir, which had been empty, started filling up again. Water trickled through the old pipes. So we have water, but for how long?

"It's working," I said when I returned to the living room. "But I really want to get a fire going, it's going to get cold out here and we don't have sleeping bags."

Andy said, "I checked the firewood around the side of the house. They're no good, the firewood is rotted and waterlogged."

Emolga took that as a cue to start crying, Smugleaf climbed up on the cot with her and let the sky squirrel cry on her shoulder. The cheering pokémon huddled together as usual, halfway between grief and sleep. Mark's pikachu found herself alone, she tried to huddle with Emolga and Smugleaf but found herself ignored.

 _"Here,"_ I said. _"I got you."_

Mark's pikachu turned to me, her eyes lit up. She climbed down from her cot and crawled up on mine. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her for a long time. Volta came up beside her and hugged her as well. I think I spent most of the time comforting Mark's immature fur-balls than keeping an eye on time. The closer midnight came, the greater their unrest. I knew the feeling well, I've seen it on more than one occasion.

Finally the front door stirred and opened, we all turn and saw two figures walking right in. Both were sluggish and tired, but were carrying supplies. "Hey, guys!" Mark called out. "I'm back!"

 _"Mark!"_ His pokémon lit up. Emolga broke away from Smugleaf as my great-granddaughter broke away from me, the cheering pokémon duo jumped off their cot and made a mad dash for Mark.

"Easy, girls!" he said. "Let me get unloaded first!"

Andy said, "What did you get?"

Henry said, "The essentials. The city has grown unsteady and shit is going down, we made a good call in getting out."

Mark walked up to the fireplace and dumped a bundle of logs by the corner. "Good thing I got a hold of these logs at the fuel station, I knew the electrical grid was too good to rely on."

"The power went out a moment ago," said Andy. "Good call."

Mark sat up the logs in a horizontal position, I watched as he lined up the logs together. He then placed a special log in the middle, just on top of the bottom row, then lined that with normal logs. "I got a special burning log that's supposed to clean out the chimney. Not sure if it would do any good but might as well try."

He grabbed the damper latch and pulled it open, a huge plume of dust poured out and splashed all over the firewood. Mark stepped away, fanning his hand against the dust cloud. "Ugh, filthy smokestack."

Mark opened up a bottle of lighter fluid and spread some across the firewood, then he pulled out a zippo lighter. I noticed it was orange, realizing that it was Eric Mason's lighter. Mark flicked the lighter and got a flame going, then lit the special log. "There, that should do for the entire night."

He sat the lighter on top of the fireplace mantle and turned back toward the front door. "I got a lot more stuff, once I get everything in here we're going to move these couches outside."

"Sounds like a plan," said Ray.

I watched the fire change from a burning ember to a small flame, the living room grew brighter as the fire consumed the special log. When Mark came back in, the room got bright enough for us to see blood on his clothes.

Matt said, "Mark, what happened?"

He sat down a box of things on the wall counter. "Had a bit of a run-in with some Dixierats, I tripped and fell on one of their dead."

"The look on his face was priceless," said Henry.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just can't say the same for the road kill."

Mark and Henry spent the next thirty minutes unloading the pickup truck. He brought a lot of stuff in. What was a blessing was the blankets and pillows. The blankets were a mixture of textures and colors. One particular blanket was purple, I frowned when I saw my outline stitched into its surface. The words, _Property of the Faradian Government,_ was marked on the side.

"Are these yours?" I asked.

"Some of them," said Mark. "The rest belong to Henry."

Henry said, "I kept them in my closet just in case, I guess it's time to put them to use."

More food and water was brought in, then a space heater. I wondered how a space heater would be useful judging by the fact we no longer had power. Mark also brought in some of his weapons. I frowned when I saw him carrying his crappy varmint rifle by the barrel, the same gun that he used to shoot me in our second confrontation months before. It didn't make me uncomfortable in a sense, but it pissed me off. The gun reminded me of the power humanity has over me, and I was helpless against it.

Mark sat it on the wall counter, along with a box of .22-caliber ammunition. Henry came in and sat his Mossberg and boxes of shells on the opposite counter, including his empty pistol. They went back out to the pickup for one final time and brought in a couple more boxes. They sat them on the coffee table, then turned to the couches. "Now let's get these out of here, they stink like fuck."

Andy pulled the sliding door wide open and Mark and Henry hauled the three couches out into the back yard. They grumbled and commented how disgusting they were. "Feels like grease," Henry said as he and Mark hauled the first couch out into the back yard.

A lot of space was cleared out when the couches were gone, giving us more elbow room. When the final couch was hauled out, Mark and Henry washed their hands in the bathroom. "Anyone hungry?"

"Yeah," I said. "I need to eat something besides Valium pills."

Andy asked, "We could cook those dead pikachus Henry had brought with him."

Mark said, "Way ahead of you, I took the liberty in cleaning them up at my house and brought them here to cook."

That made Bruiser uneasy, but Ray and Volta didn't seem to mind. I don't know what to think, especially when Mark went back out to his pickup to retrieve the dead chus. He held them by the tails. Their bodies were nothing but exposed pink muscle. Their internal organs were removed, revealing nothing but an empty abdominal cavity. What really made me uneasy were the fact that they no longer had heads. I sucked it up and said, "Mark, you're lucky I was raised with cannibalism. I would have chewed your head off for this, but then again, I don't think the Dixierats would mind us eating their own since they tolerate being shot at."

"I brought a portable grill with me," he said. "I'll set it up on the porch and get it going."

 **. . .**

I listened as Mark cooked the dead pikachus on the front porch. I have no shame in saying that the smell of cooking mice is wonderful. I know it's immoral, but it is not unnatural. Cannibalism has occurred and reoccurred in history for many species, including humans. Usually during a period of time when food is scarce, especially during the colder months. For pokémon, it's nothing new. We have been playing the survival of the fittest game since Arceus brought us into existence. Food chains exists so multiple species of pokémon can exists. There's nothing good or evil about eating another species, humans and pokémon need protein to function, which cannot be acquired from most plant matter and fungus alone. Say what you want, but cannibalism is just as normal to me as incest and gayness.

"You said you were raised off of cannibalism?" Andy asked.

I said, "My uncle died one day after chewing out a high-voltage power line, his body was literally cooked. So my parents dragged him back home and we all ate him for lunch." I cracked a smile. "I got hold of a good chunk of his leg, had it all to myself."

"What's it taste like?" Ray asked.

I shrugged, "I can tell you that my own species is the most wonderful meat I ever tasted, I have no regrets."

Andy said, "I remember when the Dixierats cleaned up the poacher's campsite back in Dixie. They were going through the pelts, wearing them as such, even cooking their dead. Sometimes they ate them raw. I've seen many cases of pikachu cannibalism that I have yet to find a specimen suffering from kuru."

"What's kuru?" Matt asked.

"A prion disease that causes shakes and compulsive laughter and crying, I made a discovery when I sent a blood sample to a colleague and discovered several genes that have high resistance to prions. Their immune systems can clean up the excess proteins with no effort at all."

I said, "Probably got it from me, or from my dad's side of the family. Now my family only practice eating corpses, I have never witnessed or participated in a killing of another fellow mouse for food. I only know of one case, however. My grandmother told me a story that when she was a pichu, her mama went on a killing rampage by murdering and eating all four of her siblings. 'She had too many kids,' she had said, 'she couldn't take care of them all.' So one night, her mama committed the act. My grandmother only survived by defecating at will and smearing herself in her own shit. She sat there watched the bloody horror show committed before her."

"Damn," said Ray.

"I asked her if she still loved her mama after what happened, my grandmother simply told me she doesn't know anymore. I didn't understand it at the time, but I sure understood it now after meeting the Dixierats for the first time. Their behavior is just out of control, I never felt so disappointed in my entire life."

Ray asked, "Your mom ever considered the idea of thinning the herd?"

I laughed, "It's hard to fit seven pichus in a tight burrow. I had no doubt the thought crossed her mind, but after hearing her mother-in-law's story, she clearly exclaimed it would never come to that point. Again, I didn't understand at the time, but I did understand that I would be spared because I was her favorite. I was the first born, the model for my siblings to follow. If only they knew of my potential."

Mark came back in, carrying a pot with him. "Okay, they're ready."

"I'll pass out the water bottles," said Andy.

Andy got up and tore out several bottles from their pack, then handed them out to everybody. Mark brought in the cooked pikachus in question. They were in a pot, perhaps marinated with salt for flavor. He sat the pot on the table and grabbed a water bottle from the pack. I glanced at Bruiser, he was the only one who felt uneasy about this. His reasoning is sound, why would anyone wanna eat their loved ones anyway? We aren't exactly in a dire situation, even though we were in the first few days of a coming war while the average Faradian was screaming, "Down with Unova! Long live the republic!" Mark got out some steel bowls and passed them out. I turned mine over to check the stamp on the bottom. It was duly marked with, _Property of the DOD,_ along with the month and year of manufacture.

Henry got out some paper towels from one of the supply bags and passed it around. We tore out a few sheets each. I checked the paper towels. They had no decorative artwork or pattern, just a generic plain sheet. The words, _100% recycled,_ were printed on every sheet. We had no utensils, just paper napkins. Mark grabbed a pair of tongs and began placing chunks of Dixierat meat in everybody's bowls. The PRA had no qualms at all, they picked up their dinner and ate them with ease. Mark's pokémon dug into theirs like they were hungry for three days. Ray was no different, he dug into the pikachu meat with joy. Volta stared at the meat for a bit, then started eating. When Mark placed a sliver of meat in my bowl, I picked it up and examined it. My fertile brain sparked, and I recognize the cooked muscle as part of a calf. I glanced at Bruiser, he looked away, unable to bear us watching his friends eat their own.

I took a bite out of the meat without a second thought. To be honest, it tasted better than my uncle almost a century ago.

"You're a good cook, Mark," said Henry as he and his Rai Rai ate slivers of pikachu meat.

"One time I cooked my commanding officer's breakfast," I said. "I spent a fraction of my training being the regiment's cook."

"I recalled the last cook made everybody sick half the time," said Henry. "I swear every latrine on the base was occupied for days."

Ray said, "Does it taste any different than your uncle, Tes?"

Bruiser's eyes went wide.

"Doesn't tasted burnt like my uncle, still is the best meat I ever tasted."

Mark then passed around some canned food along with a can opener. Bruiser got a hold of canned peaches and cut it open, and he ate that for dinner. Mark's pikachu got a small can of cinnamon apples, which she shared with her closest friends. I got lucky and was handed a jar of peanut butter, however it looked different. I checked the label and saw it was actually peanut _powder,_ a dried processed form of peanut _butter._ I had only peanut powder once in my life, on my fiftieth birthday, and that was the best peanut powder I ever had . . . ever.

"Mark, where did you get this?!"

"Carson's grocery store, where else? I looked for peanut butter, but they sold out. They have that instead, so I got it."

Mark handed me a spoon, I felt greedy. I unscrewed the lid and tore open the safety seal, I dug into the peanut powder. It tasted wonderful, no slimy texture like regular peanut butter. Volta saw my pleasure and asked, "Can I have some?"

"Sure, babe." I said, then handed the jar over to Volta.

 **. . .**

By the time we finished dinner, we heard helicopters overhead. Mark got up and looked out the window. "Military choppers," he said. "Zapdo attack helicopters, equipped with 12mm machine guns and Agartha surface-to-ground missiles."

"How do you know?" Andy asked.

"I can see their outline as they are flying toward Faraday City."

I asked, "Will they fire upon the Dixierats?"

"They won't fire their weapons on a civilian population, only spy drones are authorized to strike upon the city. If they're bringing out helicopters, then chances are the pilots were born and raised in Faraday City. The DOD figured it makes recon easier."

I asked, "Would they normally use drones for surveillance?"

"They would, but that's not an option right now due to the communications jam. But I don't think the jam goes that far. I know our spy drone capabilities, I was behind the controls of one before. The software and signals were encrypted to the moon and back. If that's jammed, then that could mean one thing."

"And what would that be, Mark?"

"Someone who is familiar with the software, or at least knew the important parts of the code, has taken it down. The DOD is being attacked from within, by their own soldiers. Perhaps they were Unova-born, or they have their own secret agendas."

That gave me plenty to think about for the rest of the night, when the choppers were out of earshot we all finished our dinner and went to bed. I buried myself deep within my own blanket and tried to get some shuteye, I listened to everyone around me readjusting themselves and falling asleep. We all said our goodnights, then the living room went silent.

I didn't dream, instead I was in a stasis of sleep just a hair's away from being awake. I was paranoid. Between the ghosts and the threat of a SWAT team, I was more at risk of my own fears more than anything could ever be. A few short hours later, a tiny hand started nudging my side. I went on full alert and pulled the blanket off of me. The fire had burned itself down to burning embers, making the living room a whole lot darker. It was starting to get cold, the air feeling ready to make water freeze. I squinted my eyes and made out Volta's outline, her scent and handkerchief were well apparent. She laid down beside me and wrapped my arms around my waist, I whispered into her ear, "What's wrong, Volta?"

"Bad dream," she whimpered.

I cradled her head and pulled her close, then I pulled the blankets over us. Having her by me felt comforting, I let down some of my guard and eventually slipped into sleep.

Sometime during the night, I felt a presence. I told myself I wasn't alone, that I was surrounded by close friends. I poked my nose through the covers to get some fresh air, and I got a whiff of the horrid stench.

I opened my eyes and found myself laying on the floor of the living room. It was empty, everybody was gone and so were the supplies. A sharp crippling pain ripped through my body, I felt all my bones snapped and splintered. I knew the pain all too well, the injuries were from old war wounds back from the old Westinghouse days. I felt cold, really cold. I noticed I was lying in a pool of blood. But it wasn't fresh, it had turned into a dried up puddle of black dust. I tried to call for help, but my mouth suddenly began hurting. My jaw was broken, I recalled breaking it during an illegal pokémon fight when I was 42.

I looked up around me and saw familiar faces. Dead friends, their eyes were glowing a soft yellow light. I knew they were dead because I buried them. Well, most of them. Some of them had grotesque wounds, I spotted Carpenter, Irvin's timburr. His head hanged loosely on his neck, still broken from that horrible pokémon battle accident that claimed his life. Other old friends had bullet holes in their heads, they were put down by Irvin with his .357 magnum. Flashlight was in the flock, his torso still a gaping maw and his eye still missing. I noticed Irvin's buneary, Charlie, standing up front. Her ribs were prevalent and her eyes had sunken in, if I could recall she had committed suicide by ingesting a whole bottle of pills.

They were a mixture of Irvin's pokémon who came and went throughout my entire life. Though their upbringings and ends were different, they all had one thing in common. I brought them here when they were eggs, and I trapped them on the farm. At first I was expecting them to beg me for their release, but that didn't happen. I realized it wasn't that they wanna leave, they were worried about me. I was a mess, covered in old wounds. I put myself through all those moments so they could live. I guess that wasn't good enough.

But what was I here for? Purgatory? Redemption? Punishment? I don't know. Nobody said a word and I couldn't talk with my broken jaw. I saw Vines approach, Irvin's own snivy. The top part of her skull was blown out from the self-inflicted gunshot wound. She extended her vines and scooped me up, then she carried me and sat me on a sofa. Next thing I knew I felt my jaw snapped back into place and I could talk again.

"I'm sorry, guys," I said. "Here I am, a broken pikachu, crawling back to a home that is no longer here. Irvin's gone and everything is history."

 _"Everything's not gone,"_ said Flashlight. _"We're still here, we never left."_

"Nobody's telling you to stay anymore. The door's right there, you could leave at any time but you chose to stay. Is there something bothering you?"

Ripsaw, Irvin's tyrouge, stepped forward. I recalled he passed away in his sleep from old age when I was 75. _"You sacrificed so much for us, but it pains us to see you in this state."_

"I did what I could to make sure you guys get food on your plate every day, Irvin couldn't do his taxes for shit."

 _"We're not here because you are our leader, we're here because you are our close friend. We've all wondered why you never lost a battle, never succumbed to pain. We didn't realize this until we sensed your return."_

"I don't wanna be that pikachu anymore, I don't wanna be that mouse who locks you guys in the closet without supper or bitch-slap you for other stupid shit. I would take it all back if I could, but I guess my broken bones will suffice." I scanned the room to see if all of my dead friends were accounted for, a few were not among them. "Some of us are missing. Where's Med? Where's Nobark?"

 _"I don't know,"_ said Ripsaw. _"Since she didn't come back here, we assumed she's still in the Overworld."_

 _"We don't know which Nobark is really here,"_ said Flashlight. _"There's more than one Nobark."_

Not a good thing to hear, but that's a problem for another time. I cut to the chase and said, "What do you want from me?"

Flashlight said, _"You to be happy again. Polly is at your fingertips and your first born son is still around."_

"That's too good to be true."

 _"You don't trust us?"_

"It's not about trust, there's a chance the information is outdated, and then they're gone. There are some things in the world that are out of my control, because they're in the control of others."

That's when Nobark materialized before me. He looked exactly how I last saw him. Shot full of holes because of me. The scrafty showed no signs of aggression, I realized this was the real Nobark. He picked up my hand and I felt all of my bones snap back in place, and the pain ceased. _"I honestly don't believe in ghosts,"_ said Nobark. _"But when I found myself here, that changed."_

"How long did you hang on in there before you bled out?" I asked.

Nobark shrugged, "I felt cold, and the next thing I knew I was here. It's like one scene has changed to another."

The hoodlum pokémon helped me up from the couch and brought me back to my feet. "Go find your son, and after that find Ash Ketchum. The boy represents everything you wish to have in life. When you see him again, tell him I'm sorry."

I nodded. "It would be a longshot, but I'll be sure to pass him the message. I just hope he's still at Pallet Town by the time I get there."

Nobark smiled, "Help us by helping yourself. We'll be here for you, we won't rest until you found peace."

I said, "After all this is over, I'll track down our old friends that still living. I'll rebuild the Westinghouse Army and dedicate it to a new generation. And for that to happen, there is one thing I want to ask you guys."

"And what's that?"

"I plan to have this house torn down and rebuilt, with new features and wiring. I expect no disturbances or presences from you guys unless I call upon you. If you want, I can figure out a way to put all of you inside of a crystal ball and free you from this place."

Everyone looked at each other with confusion, then Flashlight asked, _"What will that do?"_

"I don't rightly know, but I can say it will be our last stupid moment together."

Nobark said, "Hopefully it would be better than Agartha."

The scrafty paused and turned his head, as if he was listening to something. "Pardon me," he said. "I have somebody I need to deal with."

Nobark faded and disappeared from sight. My friends and the world melted into shadows and faded into blackness.

And then I heard Smugleaf scream.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	19. Chapter 19

_Chapter 19_

The whole room was jostled awake. Bruiser fell out of his cot and fought with his blanket. Mark's pokémon stumbled and fell off their cot, their trainer shouting, "The fuck was that?!"

I said, "That sounded like it was coming from the bathroom!"

I jumped off the cot and sprinted on all fours toward the bathroom. The door was wide open, I ran inside and saw Smugleaf on the floor unconscious. "Shit," I swore. "Andy, get in here!"

Andy rushed in and quickly checked Smugleaf for any signs of life. "She has a pulse," he said. "But she feels cold."

The pokémon doctor scooped her up and brought her back into the living room, where he wrapped Smugleaf up in blankets and added more fuel to the fire. The flames picked up and the flames got brighter, I sat on my cot and watched as Andy treated Smugleaf for shock. Emolga was right by her side in an instant, she stood by the cot and looked on as Smugleaf shivered. I asked Mark to seal up all the windows but the one above the kitchen sink. He went around and closed all the windows, I heard him latched them all shut for added security. Henry got his shotgun and began loading it, he sat by the far wall and kept a ready stance in case the house was about to be attacked.

When Smugleaf regained consciousness, she broke down into tears. Mark stepped in and gave her an unopened water bottle, she took it and drank half of it down. "Breathe," said Andy. "Breathe."

I stepped up to Smugleaf and asked, "What happened?"

The grass snake pokémon gulped, then breathed. "I went to use the bathroom, when I turned around I saw . . . something!"

"Saw what?"

"I don't know, it looked like Nobark but its eyes were all wrong! It came at me, like it was trying to head-butt me, then something else came in and tackled it into the wall!"

I asked, "Are you alright, any broken bones?"

Smugleaf spat in rapid-fire speech, "I'm terrified I can't breathe I need air!"

Andy held up Smugleaf's tail and legs, he placed some pillows underneath them to keep them elevated. "Somebody get a paper bag, she's hyperventilating!"

I took Smugleaf's hand and held it as Ray fetched a bag. Not sure where he got it from, but it smelled like grease. He handed it to Smugleaf and she breathed into it for a few minutes. Her breathing slowed and she began to calm down.

 _"Is she going to be okay?"_ Emolga asked.

 _"She'll be fine,"_ I said. _"She's lucky she doesn't have a heart problem."_

Mark left the living room for a moment, then returned. "I did a quick search of the bathroom, there's nothing there, but it smells putrid."

I bent Smugleaf's hand back and checked her pulse. It was still elevated. I pinched her skin and found it wasn't as flexible as it should. "Drink more water, you're dehydrated."

I sat back down on my cot and glanced at Matt. He sat on his cot, staring at the wall. He was having a moment of reflection. I pinched my nose and think for a moment, Volta crawled back up on my side. "Tesla, are you alright?"

I took a deep breath. "When I came home from the hospital that night, Matt dropped me off. He had to go home and make some calls, he couldn't stay over to watch us. I walked into this very room and all of Irvin's pokémon stood there. They knew something was up, they saw the dried tears on my face. Irvin wasn't with me, they pieced the two-to-two together. I broke the grizzly news he passed away."

Smugleaf's breathing slowed as she turned to face me. "What happened?"

"Everybody lost it. Some of Irvin's pokémon fainted, others turned away. Nobark just stood there, dumbstruck. Few seconds later everybody broke down in tears. They asked me if I was with him when he died, I said yes. They asked me what his death was like, I told them it's like somebody hit his off-switch. He just dropped, without warning. I don't think he knew what hit him."

Everybody sat down, their eyes turning to me. It was comforting, I felt like I was finally getting some closure after twenty years.

"Two days later, the funeral came. Everyone was dressed in their finest, I was in my worst. I hadn't ate since that morning, and I was too distraught to interact with anybody. You have no idea how much emotional pain I went through, this is a man I gave my life to for seventy years and he died without warning. I swear to you, I was screaming inside my head for Polly to comfort me, I even screamed for my mama. But they weren't there, and Matt could do nothing more for me."

Andy said, "He was so distraught that he wouldn't get near the body, let alone lay eyes on it."

"The rest of Irvin's pokémon wouldn't attend his funeral, they stayed on the farm throughout the surface. When Matt drove me back home, I walked in and sensed something was off." I pointed toward the hallway. "There, in the first bedroom to the left. I was looking for my friends. The house was quiet. I opened the bedroom door and there was Aqua, Irvin's oshawott. He had tied a noose around his neck and hung himself, the poor guy just couldn't take it anymore. Next I found Vines, Irvin's own snivy. She downed some pills and died peacefully. I found everybody else in Irvin's bedroom, on his bed. They weren't sleeping, they were mourning. When I walked right in, they all got up and left the room, and I had the bed all to myself for one final night."

"I buried Vines and Aqua myself," said Matt. "Left Tesla alone for the rest of the night, I sat there in the living room alone and all of a sudden the phone rang, so I picked it up."

"The phone caught my attention, I picked up the receiver in Irvin's room and discreetly listened in. It was just some guy offering a large sum of money to buy me. Matt of course turned it down, but that was the last straw. I couldn't stay in this house and lifestyle any longer, I had to leave. Matt went away for a moment to go check up on Emmett, I took the time to say my final goodbyes to my friends. Nobark had his exodus already planned out, I found him packing his things. Just his AK-47, and a purple trunk. I asked where he's going, he said he's going to go to Unova and find a close associate so he could try to sort this mess out. We know that close associate is Wotter."

I saw Wotter stir on his cot, he sat up and said, _"I knew he would never forget me."_

I said, "And on that night, I left, and didn't come back till yesterday."

I caught Mark taking notes, he was scribbling madly on a notebook. He glanced at the notebook for a moment, then looked up. "Oh, forgot something."

He sat down his notebook and opened up his backpack, Mark reached in and pulled out Smugleaf's machete and her leather journal. He carried it over to the snivy and held them over her head. Her eyes went big, she swat her hands in a frantic move to catch the holster's straps, but Mark held it out of her reach. "I'm putting a lot of trust in you with this knife. Keep it in its holster and don't take it out, ever."

Smugleaf nodded, Mark handed the knife and journal to her and she cradled them dearly.

Mark said, "We gotta start doing something. Unova is going to throw a fit and we don't know jack about what is going on in and outside the Island. We have to get the Dixierats organized, and then we gotta start arranging militia groups. I have some people who owe me a few favors, I'll ask them first thing tomorrow."

I said, "There's something I need to do as well. I have to go back to Kanto and track down my first-born son."

Matt said, "Tesla."

"I have to know for sure, Matt. I already made my decision, and I'm going alone."

Andy said, "I know of a guy who has a plane, I'll fly you over to Kanto. After that, you go where you need to go."

"No boats, thank you."

Volta clasped my hand. "Tesla, please don't go! I've just found you!"

"Volta, I'm coming back no matter what, but I gotta do this. I have to go back to my childhood home, my son deserves to know who his parents were."

Volta pressed her face against my chest and whined, I wrapped my arms around her and said, "I love you, girl, but there are some things I need to do on my own. You can last a little while without me, you proved that back on Unova. I am asking you to last a little longer. Can you do that for me, Volta?"

The mouse pokémon nodded. "Yes, I am not going to like it. But, yes. Just please don't get caught by the police, or get yourself killed."

"You know I can't make that promise, there are some things out of my control."

Volta and I laid back down on the cot. That was the last time we slept together in the same room, at least for a while.

 **. . .**

Morning slipped into the room as peaceful as sunset. I was a late sleeper, so when I woke up I noticed Andy and Matt were already getting ready for the day. Mark was cooking up some breakfast on the grill outside. Everyone around me were lounging around or were still sleeping altogether. Smugleaf was wide awake, she had recovered from her night terror and was writing away in her journal. I don't know how her tiny hands managed to grip the pen, but she's writing like a champ. Volta was by my side as always, she was hanging on tighter than normal. The young pikachu didn't want me to leave, I didn't want Ray to wrestle her off of me, so I tried to pry her arms off my waist.

Her black marble eyes flashed open, Volta tightened her grip on me and pulled me close. I was like a magnet to her, she would snatch me up when I get near her and would never let go. I pressed my forehead against her chest, she smelled wonderful.

"Please," she said. "Don't leave me."

"I'm not negotiating this, Volta."

I don't think she knew what the word negotiating means, I could see the confusion in her eyes. I looked into her eyes and said, "I love you, but I am not arguing with you. I tell you what, I'll try to bring my son back to Faraday Island. I doubt that could even happen, but I will keep that in mind when I go see him."

Volta buried her head in my chest and cried, I cradled her head as she squeezed the life out of me. "Don't worry," I said. "I'll make my way home, I always do."

The question is, where is home? Kanto, or Faraday Island? I wasn't sure what happened to my parents and my other siblings. Even if they had made it out of human captivity and reproduced, I wouldn't recognize their descendants, and they wouldn't recognize me. I was Sparky to them, not Tesla. I have to tell myself there is no hope to return to my old childhood burrow, it's probably not there anymore, either taken up by a new pikachu family or got buried from erosion. I told myself that was just a side-mission, unreal possibility of anything left besides the remains of my dead grandmother and uncle. My son was the goal, reforming my family is my mission. I could try to track down Polly, but she was way too hot for me to hunt. She might be there, she might not be there. Chances are she is not in that lab in Sinnoh, maybe she used to be, but chances are she may had passed away.

That thought sent a chill down my spine, I refocused my mind on my child. Wheels, was that his name? His trainer a race car fanatic? What were his beginnings like? Did he know Polly, did she get the chance to nurture him? After all this time, where had my child ended up? I had an endless list of questions, I'm sure Wheels had a list of questions of his own.

Now what about Volta, Ray, Bruiser, and the other Dixierats? Are they my family or my relatives? I don't know how to place them. I don't know most of the Dixierats. Bruiser is calm and sensitive, Ray is just out of control, and Volta has incestuous feelings for me. If I were to call this a family, it would be dysfunctional because there's no integrity to fortify their common sense. Bruiser and Ray were lab rats, raised and cultured in a sterile world of drugs and experiments. Volta was raised by my own hand, but completely broke down from my alcoholism. The little pichu I used to know is no longer innocent. She's corrupted, a lazy fat slob like Ray. Her personality is the exact opposite on how I wish for her to turn out. But she reminded me of myself when I was her age. No rules, just customs: If it feels good, do it.

I had Volta sit up and I kissed her red cheek. "If you want, I can give you a grooming."

Volta looked up at me. "Can you give me a belly rub?"

"Yeah, I can do that too."

One thing that never changes is a pokémon's lust for being groomed. Nature discovered that grooming reduces the chance of disease as it removes bacteria-laced dirt from the fur, which in turn prevents skin infections. So nature built the instinct into all mammalian pokémon. Grooming increases the bond between two individuals, even increases the bond between a pokémon and its trainer. My mama was very thorough when she taught me to groom. I first had Volta sit away from me, then I began picking through the fur on her back. I always found this difficult to do with my fingers, I needed something to make this easier and more enjoyable for Volta.

"Ray," I called out to him. "Do we have a comb anywhere?"

Ray rolled himself off of his cot and skipped toward our supply cache. "I think I might know where."

He picked up my green drawcord backpack and opened it, Ray reached inside and rummaged around. "Found one!"

Ray walked up to me and handed me a thin black comb, which was perfect for Volta's fur. "Thanks, Ray."

"Got you covered, grandpa."

Grandpa? Damn, I was getting old. Ray climbed back on his couch and resumed snoozing as I got to work on Volta's fur. "Okay, hold still."

I gently raked the comb down Volta's back, the mouse pokémon began to purr and relax. Everyone has their own sweet spots, and I knew Volta's by heart. During our time traveling together, I had groomed her multiple times because a shower was few and far between. I figured out her sweet spots after a few grooming sessions. Something dawned in the back of my mind. She's a pikachu now, her evolution obviously changed her tastes but what about her grooming preferences? I decided to give it a shot and proceed to comb where I believed her sweet spots should be.

Volta let out an _ahh_ in pokémon speech. I smiled, her preferences hadn't changed. She was still the little pichu as I had remembered her. I groomed her in a particular pattern as I always had done, making sure I scratched those sweet spots. Volta awed and laid down on the cot, I proceed to groom her side and began rubbing her belly. She melted like butter, giggling under her breath.

Andy came out of the hallway and stretched his legs. He was in his boxers and tank top, his posture resembling Irvin's. I said, "The shower's ready?"

"Yeah," he said. "The shower smells like earth, but it's ready to go."

"Is there shampoo?"

"Yup, there's shampoo."

 **. . .**

The shower felt just as I had remembered it. All my friends used to take mass group showers, scrubbing each other's back with a luffa sponge and soap bars. We took a shower every day or once every few days. I think we were one of a few pokémon on the island who took showers after a massive pokémon battle. I have yet to go to a pokémon center to find a pokémon taking a bath or being scrubbed by one of the Nurse Joy's pink assistants.

Ray, Bruiser, Volta and I huddled into the shower together. There wasn't a single shower head. We had three showerheads coming out the side and a massive one above. So when we started up the shower, all shower heads started raining water upon us. We scrubbed ourselves like before, getting all the hard to reach places. A carpet of fur started building on the shower floor. I squinted, I wasn't used to seeing other people and pokémon without my eye-goggles. Volta stayed particularly close to me, I lathered up some soap in my hands and I began scrubbing her hard to reach places. She held her arms up high, which allowed me to scrub her armpits. It also showed me how fat she really was.

Jokes aside, we finished our shower and we air dried. We didn't have any towels, but the bathroom window was open. So I opened up the shower and we all air dried. I noticed a pile of unopened toothbrushes on the bathroom counter. I took the opportunity by tearing one open, added in some toothpaste, and began brushing what was left of my teeth."

"You know we have better teeth than humans?" Ray said as he picked up a toothbrush.

"Not really," I said.

"We have thicker enamel, which makes our teeth stronger and less prone to cavities."

I said, "That doesn't really do much good if you reach my age, I barely have any teeth left. Nobark even knocked out another tooth in our last fisticuff scuttle."

"You ever thought of getting your teeth fixed?"

I said, "I don't want any more metal implanted in my body, I'm done going under the knife."

I opened my mouth and checked my teeth. I still have some incisors, the ones that count for speech. They were brown and worn away. All my canine teeth were gone, along with half of my primary and secondary molars. I heard some rumors during my outlaw years that some teeth made it on eBay, whoever was selling had placed a big price on them. That was something to check out after our Faraday Island was taken care of.

I said, "Guys, you've been great friends. But can you hold down the fort while I go find your uncle?"

Ray said, "Since it gives us something to do, I'm game. I'll go track down some Dixierats who are good at coordination. Once I get a small band together though, we gotta figure out how we are going to tackle this civil war."

I said, "You leave that to me once I get back, hopefully alive and not in a fucking box."

Bruiser asked, "What happens if Interpol catches you, or catches us?"

I said, "Though the island doesn't know it yet, it's on our side. If they catch you, however, play dumb. You're all cute and cuddly pokémon, play that card. It got me pretty far in life. I don't expect much force from Interpol but anything's possible."

"Please be back," said Volta. "I don't wanna lose you for good."

I said, "Kanto is pretty far, it will take me a few days to get there, assuming Andy is just as resourceful as Irvin."

When we were dry, we all stepped back out into the living room. Breakfast was ready. We grabbed our bowls and helped ourselves to warmed canned food and leftover pikachu meat. Mark and Andy talked for most of the time, some common stuff they have together. Matt took delivery on keeping Mark's pokémon company, they were all bunched up together by his side, eating their meals. Smugleaf started growing attached to Ray, she sheepishly walked up to him and sat by the rikachu. "You were in the breeding program?" I heard Ray say.

"Yeah, is it any different than a lab?"

"On how we're being treated, no. But we were bred for experiments, not for training. The scientists wanted to breed another Tesla Westinghouse, so they took one of his sons and daughters and bred them together. Then they took the resulting offspring and bred it with his daughter. It's called crossbreeding, Smugleaf. They were narrowing down specific traits. When they finally got to me, they realize I was sterile but determined I was still useful in other experiments."

Smugleaf asked, "So how did you became, you know, you?"

"I started off as a pichu, eventually I evolved normally into a pikachu. It was after I broke out of captivity where I mutated into this handsome devil you see before you. Gave Bruiser quite a shock, but at least I'm still the cousin he always remembered." Ray froze and started rapidly blinking, I held my breath and waited.

"You okay, Ray?" Smugleaf asked.

He said, "Sorry, I have schizophrenia. I see things that aren't really there, it varies from person to person. Sometimes you see people, or you hear things, or you are paranoid about things. For me, I just see things. It's always flashing lights and fireworks. It overwhelms my senses, which startles me." Ray blinked some more. "Ugh, thankfully there's no big explosions."

I turned and glanced at Wotter, I haven't heard much coming out of him. He laid there on his cot, just wolfing down his breakfast. When he's finished, he sat the bowl aside and laid down on the cot. I finished my breakfast and walked up to him, I touched his shoulder. _"Wotter,"_ I said in pokémon speech. _"Is there anything on your mind?"_

Wotter sighed, _"Between getting neutered and Nobark dying, there isn't much I have in mind."_

 _"That isn't the Wotter I know when we were running through Soho at night."_

The discipline pokémon said nothing.

I said, _"In fact, that isn't the Wotter I knew when we first met."_

 _"You hissed at me."_

 _"And you know my pain after all these years."_

I glanced down at his pelt, his two scalchops were missing. I recalled that Smugleaf destroyed them during their scuffle. _"Is it about the scalchops? Nobark? Or your trainer William?"_

Wotter shook his head. _"No, that all pales in comparison."_

 _"So what is it?"_

The dewott let out a soft cry. _"I just wanna be loved again."_

I turned him around on his back, the dewott looked at me with those black marble eyes. I said in human speech. "Back in Fort Wernher, there's a door in the elite bunker with a bolt latch on it. What is usually kept there?"

Wotter looked away. _"Prisoners."_

"What kind of prisoners?"

 _"The weak ones from the PRA, those who can't make the cut."_

"Who was the last pokémon you kept there?"

Wotter said, _"A spray pokémon, a panpour. But she's gone now, I threw her body in the pit you had us all dig."_

I said in pokémon speech. _"You well aware that Bubbles is now dead?"_

Wotter's eyes lit up, I could see a spark of care he had left for the pink oshawott. _"What happened to her?"_

 _"Tendon killed her with a lethal shot of morphine, this was moments before she attempted to kill Pinki. That audino survived, Tendon did not. She took the easy way out."_

Wotter said, _"She always contemplated on finishing off Pinki, I guess she finally removed that thorn out of her side."_

 _"She got her aggression out, that's for sure."_ Then I asked, _"Did you get near Mark's pokémon back in Fort Wernher, even tried to violate them?"_

 _"No, never. I wouldn't be here if I did. I think Nobark did something with his pikachu, but I didn't press him on that."_ Then Wotter added, _"Ever since I came here, they would try to comfort me once in a while. Grooming my fur, for example. I couldn't bring myself to interact with them, I don't have the energy nor the feelings to do so."_

I glanced at his groin, which was still well-bandaged. _"Still in pain here?"_

Wotter said, _"It's sore, really sore. Andy put some antibiotics on it and wrapped it up with fresh bandages. It hurts everytime I pee."_

 _"Did you go see a doctor when you first came here?"_

 _"I trust Tendon's work, she had worked with neutered pokémon before. But never had she heard of a case of a pokémon neutering a pokémon."_

I glanced at Smugleaf, she was still cuddled with Ray as he talked non-stop. _"I hope you get better."_

Wotter said, _"You're just as caring as Nobark said, I see why he puts so much trust in you."_

The dewott pulled the blanket over himself and relaxed. _"Thanks for the talk, I feel better already."_

Before I could say anything, Ray screamed, "Fireworks everywhere, gotta get out of here!"

I turned around just in time to see him run out the sliding glass door. Smugleaf just stood there, having no idea what had happened. Volta wasn't as surprised but just as concerned. "Great," I said. "Another schizophrenic breakdown."

I charged, leaped over the cot between Smugleaf and Volta, and dashed out the back glass door. Ray was fast for a big mouse, he was already in the edge of the main yard by the time I got outside. Andy, already back in his clothes, ran after him. Mark was just finishing up breakfast as he watched the two ran toward the forest. "Does this always happen?" he asked.

"I guess so." I said.

I climbed down the deck and made a bee-line for Ray. He and Andy ran down the gravel path and disappeared into the trees. I knew where they were going, that path goes straight toward the Westinghouse Cemetery. I quickly ran down the path, hoping to catch up. I was lucky. Ray was stopped just by the entrance to the cemetery. Andy was already on him, it took me a moment to realize he wasn't pinning him down.

I rushed up and asked, "What happened, Andy?"

"He just stopped without warning and dropped," he said. "It almost as if he ran into something, but there was nothing there."

Ray rolled on his belly and blinked. "The fireworks are gone, what a relief."

Andy helped the rikachu up and he stretched his arms and legs. "Ray," I said. "Did you run into something?"

Ray said, "I don't know what I ran into, it felt like somebody tackled me, but there was nothing there."

I glanced out toward the graveyard, my heart dropped. I glanced at the sign. It was made out of wood and stone, covered with moss. Last I recalled it was painted in a purple background with white lettering. Most of the paint was gone now, returning the sign to its natural look. I could still make out the lettering, _Westinghouse Memorial Cemetery. Here lies the pokémon who served Irvin Westinghouse, may they rest in peace._

"Rest in peace my ass," I commented. "They aren't resting in peace and Irvin knows it."

"What?" Andy asked.

I stepped into the graveyard as I heard the others catch up to us. Volta and Bruiser ran in, followed by Mark, Henry, and Matt. The PRA pokémon took their time walking here, I caught eye of Wotter, he finally made the effort to walk on his own. Rai Rai was frightened by the sight of the graves, and so hid behind Henry for dear comfort.

I began to survey the graves. Most were made out of stone, those were the graves of pokémon who died during Irvin's time. There were a few graves that were merely marked in wood and cardboard road signs, those were the ones who died after Irvin. I went by every grave, touching the top of the markers with the brush of my hand. I knew everyone by heart, I went through great lengths to know the size of the grave, how deep it goes, and how it was dug.

"How deep did you bury them?" Andy asked.

"Between 30 to 40 centimeters," I said. "Not as deep as a normal grave, but I made it work."

All the graves were ordered in accordance to where Irvin and I got them. The markers, Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Unova, were planted in their designated sections. Each tombstone had a small marking on the lower right corner, indicating the sex and elemental-type of the buried pokémon. I stopped by on Flashlight's grave and read the inscription on the tombstone, _He climbed high and hit rock bottom._ A small Mars symbol and lightning bolt were marked on the lower right corner of the marker. Next to him was a fresh grave, recently dug. A cardboard road sign marked the grave, on it read, _Here lies Nobark Westinghouse. He fought with himself and lost, but a friend saved him in the end._

Not exactly what I want on my tombstone, but I don't think Nobark would mind. I glanced at the ground, surveying the grass, I could make out the dried grass needles that were cut days prior. "You did a good job trimming this graveyard, Mark," I said as he approached. "Save for the welcome sign, it's just how I remembered it."

"It takes a little precision over the graves," he said. "I ended up blemishing some of the tombstones with chlorophyll from the grass, so I got down on my knees and washed them off. Smart move for Irvin to use granite tombstones, they'll last for thousands of years."

"He spent a great sum of money for them, a little bit too much to be honest."

I turned to Mark and said, "If I die, seal me up in an urn and don't bury me here. People will go frantic in trying to grab me, let the museum have my hide and let the scientists have my blood and organs, but keep my body out of the hands of fanatics."

"So seal you up and stick you on the shelf? Without cremating you?"

"People will get upset if I get cremated, preferably sink me in a tub of preservative for a few days before sealing me up in a sterile urn."

Smugleaf walked up to Nobark's grave, she touched the tombstone and bowed her head. I could make out the tears in her eyes.

 _"Only wish Tendon has a grave for us to go to,"_ said Woody. _"She may be an asshole, but I have always felt she never wanted to be one."_

I turned to Andy and said, "How soon are we leaving for Kanto?"

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	20. Chapter 20

_Chapter 20_

I had to say a lot of goodbyes, which I thought about throughout my flight. Volta would never let go, her bond between me was too great. She was too young to understand the concept of destiny and odyssey. Sometimes I always asked myself why I have to go through this shit. All I wanted was a comfortable life with friends and family, but a lot of new acquaintances and extended members of my family were counting on me for moral support. What could I do for them? I was a damn legendary pikachu with a lot of history, but I'm no hero. I am not a symbol of good, since I have done bad things, and yet I am not a symbol of evil because I have done good things. I sit on a thin line. The few people knew who I really was could understand that I am an old pikachu from a different time. I do not value life as everyone else do, it never lasts.

Andy carried me to his car and sat me in the back seat, he got in and started the engine. I looked out the window and saw the Dixierats and PRA watching me off. Only Ray and Mark were smiling, waving. Mark's pokémon, Bruiser and Volta, Matt, and the PRA troops looked sad. I stared into Mark's eyes, I could tell he was planning something. I didn't want to believe he could pick up Polly and place her in my hands, the chances of her still being in this world was slim to none. Overall, I wasn't sure if Mark would pull such a heist off.

I sat down in my seat and buckled up as Andy drove down the gravel road. A subtle thought resonated in my mind. Would Mark really go that far to bring Polly back to Faraday Island?

We traveled down the road toward Carson, then made a left turn toward the center of the island. There was a small private airport Irvin and I used for our travels. The guy who owned the place had strong connections with Irvin's family. I think his grandson owns it now, hopefully Andy still had influence over him.

Andy and I arrived at the airport within ten minutes. The place was just like I had remembered it, albeit blemished with age. Several private jets were available in the open hangers. Andy drove around and parked his car at the entrance, we got out and walked into the reception area. The grandson was manning the desk, still fat as I had remembered him, and still wearing those greasy denim overalls. He recognized me by sight alone, but was confused by Andy's appearance.

"I'm Andrew," he said. "Irvin's grandson."

"Oh, I haven't seen Tesla since I was a boy," The grandson turned to me and asked, "You haven't changed much."

I said, "I wish that wasn't true."

I rarely spoke to anyone during my days with Irvin, so I gave the grandson quite a shock. "You talk?!"

"I always had," I said. "Things have changed."

Andy asked, "We need a plane for Kanto, immediately."

"We got some comm problems, no GPS."

"Not a problem once you're out of range of Faraday Island," Andy pulled a few hundred pokédollar bills from his pocket and sat them down on the table. "Is a pilot available?"

The grandson scooped up the bills without question. "Yes, right out back. There's one pilot who is waiting for a fare."

It was a one-way trip, once I leave for the region I may never return on the same plane. That had always been the case with Irvin, I don't see why that would change. Different regions have different protocols, and jet fuel is expensive. The planes here are required by Faradian law to run off of bio-fuel grown on the island, no exceptions. So the planes were designed with extra bladders to store fuel, that way they don't have to refuel outside of Faraday Island, which is regular petrol fuel. I had made rounds to Kanto before, I knew the trip by heart. Between the time with Team Rocket and pokémon battling, Kanto has heavy history. For me, it used to be a great place to live, but no more.

Andy and I found our pilot outside in the hangers. He was a very lean man, much like Mark. He wasn't a pilot I recognized, which was not a surprise. Perhaps all the pilots I used to know here had passed or retired. Andy explained the situation to the pilot, he then handed Andy a form to fill out. A contract that warns him of the dangers of flying, especially on a plane loaded to the brim with bio-fuel. If my fate were to crash and burn in the ocean or on the shores of Kanto, then so be it. But not now, not today or tomorrow. I have to see my son, I have to know what his face looks like in person.

A thought came to mind, and so I asked the pilot if he had a blank sheet of paper, an envelope, and a pen I could borrow. At first he was shocked that I spoke, then he said there was something I could use. He went to the back room and brought me a sheet of paper, an old chewed up pen, and an envelope. As Andy filled out the form, I wrote a letter back home.

 **. . .**

 _To Matthew, Emmett, Rayovac, Volta, Bruiser, Mark, the Dixierats, the members of the Pokémon Resistance Army, and to the average citizen of Faraday whom it concerns,_

 _You know me from another time, or you know me in this current time. To your eyes and ears, I am a legend. I have gained god-like powers that rivals Arceus himself. Gained a reputation by not losing a single pokémon battle. Had my name solidified by the late Pokémon Master, Irvin Westinghouse. But here I write to you what may be a final letter before my departure to my childhood home. I have some confessions to make._

 _First of all, I am not a citizen of Faraday Island. I was born in Viridian Forest in the Kanto region, deep in the sticks of pikachu redneck society. Team Rocket took my family away from me and dumped me on your doorstep. Faraday Island would not let me go, I had lived decades on this rock. Outlived my friends, my trainer. The masses would not let me go, the Island's provincial government would not let me be free. But here, I have to remind all of you that I am an individual. I have a personality, I do not need to be a cute and cuddly pokémon to express my feelings to you all._

 _For Matthew Kissinger, I praised you more than Irvin himself. You gave me my name, gave me my eye-goggles, and for that you earned my deep respect. We have traveled together throughout the world with Irvin. While Irvin likes to stir things up in bars and other public places, you kept your cool. You were not the troublemaker like our old friend. You do not have a temper, nor do you have an admission for success. To me, you were everything I stand for: A simple life, a quiet life. I am sorry I have to drag you into this. You can walk away at any time, I know your loyalty for me is too great for you to do so, but I am letting you know that option is there._

 _For Emmett Kissinger, I don't know how many times I must say "I'm sorry" for all the times I hissed at you. There was something about you I didn't like, even though your father raised you right. I now regret all those times I ever did show hostility to you. I can say that you have every reason to shoot my ass like a cowboy. I advanced your law enforcement career. I don't know where you will be after the civil war, but I hope one day you would have the heart to apologize. And yes, I was the one who sicced the Dixierats on your patrol car. That was for being a terrible shot._

 _For Mark Kissinger, you're just like your father and his father before when they were young. The personalities may be different, but the behavior is 'always' the same. You and your family shares conviction. Your grandfather shares devotion to me, your father shows devotion to his country. You show devotion to your pokémon. Unlike your father and grandfather, you are reckless and quite an asshole, much like Irvin, and yet you got far in life much earlier than others. You are an overachiever, which I hate dearly. But you had uncovered evidence of Polly's whereabouts, and for that I was greatly upset. If you ever bring her back to Faraday Island and I am no longer there, make sure you read this letter to her. If you had tried, but failed. I can still appreciate the fact that you still cared._

 _For Rayovac, please control your behavior. I care for you deeply, maybe a little too much but . . . Fuck it, do whatever you want. You're getting old, you might as well enjoy life as you still can._

 _For Bruiser, same as your rikachu cousin. You're just like Matt, soft and subtle. I know you are not a raichu in heart but you must make do what you have. Find a mate, take up a cause, and bring some light into your life. You have a family that cares about you and will miss you when you're gone, I want you to know that._

 _For Volta, I don't know how to say this. I have to admit you are not the way I planned for you to turn out. I tried my best to raise you after your parents were killed by poachers, tried not to make the same mistakes I had made when culturing Irvin's pokémon. You were right, I have failed. Yes, I know you don't really meant that. You were emotionally hurt from catching me with alcohol, right after I had my liver replaced. Realizing that I cannot provide you with safety and a home alone, I have to give you up. The PRA may have destroyed that possibility, but thankfully you knew where home is. You're a big girl now, you can take care of yourself. You have proved me that. I cannot say that you don't need me anymore because you have sold a part of your soul to me. Your hormones may have driven you to love me in an unusual way, but I don't mind. I grew up in a world of incest and cannibalism. No human in their right mind would consider it, but it's what makes us pokémon. We don't have rules, only customs. I will always be in your heart, even on the bleakest day. I always love you sweetheart, and no matter what happens, I 'will' come home._

 _For Smugleaf Stucky, I have more apologies to make to you than to Emmett. You needed somebody to love, but you have let yourself go. Breaking your arm didn't punish you, it brought out that fact wide open. Alice may not want you to suffer like this, but you don't have to anymore. I cannot say if Mark would let you have some form of relationship between you and his emolga. Even if he forbids it, I will approve, and if he does forbid it, then I will haunt his ass for the rest of his life. Maybe one great mighty 'fuck you' should send the message home. Anyway, I hope Mark, Rayovac, and for anybody for that matter, would not make your life hard for you. You need somebody to trust in this world, Smugleaf. That's a fact. Even if they fill you full of holes from irrational rage._

 _For Wotter, I have not much to say. Please be that dewott I had met so long ago again. Though you are still responsible for your past actions, the act you done to your trainer that resulted in your fate is not your fault. Shit happens, and shit always happens. Please be aware of that, Nobark made it clear for me to make sure you would be alright in the end. Take your time to recover, we both know how comfortable beds are._

 _For the Dixierats in general, somebody might need to read you this, since most of you can't read for shit. I have not earned the right to be called your family member. I don't know you guys, and what you thought you know about me is just the tip of the iceberg. It boggles my mind to see all of you, so many generations were born in such a short period of time. I'm worthy of being called your living ancestor, but nothing more. I need to tell you guys something, and I may hurt your feelings. When I first saw you, I saw you as a disappointment. You eat, sleep, had sex in front of the kids, urinated and defecated in public. You guys are deviant, typical pests. But despite your flaws, you guys are worthy of preservation. I hope Rayovac is an effective leader for you guys, because I think he suits you perfectly._

 _For the PRA, those who served Nobark. I am not sure if you guys will hold out and keep together, but the island should suit your lifestyles. I hope you can live peacefully with my kin, because they are not going away. By the time this message reach you guys, they have infected every corner of this Island. You best be aware of that, so intermingle with them and make peace. You share a common cause, so share a common interest in this island. It's what Nobark want for you guys and it is what I want for you. The bad deeds over your heads were caused by Nobark's dissociate personality, not you, you're better than that. So put it all behind you and feel alive while you are still alive. Find a comfortable place to set up shop and started exploring whatever interest you have in mind._

 _For the citizens of Faraday Island, I am lost for words. You thought you know me, but I must tell you people that I am a wild pokémon. I never been inside a poké ball and will never will be. You ever wondered why I was so aggressive from all those pokémon battles, it's because I had my closed loved ones ripped out of my hands. I had to leave into exile, I do not want that life. I do not want to be that pikachu you see on TV anymore. I do not want to be remembered from my stint with Irvin, because it is not my reputation to begin with. If you want to earn my presence in your country, you best know I am trained to be as human as you. I am a living example that I can beat the odds, but I would trade my life and prestige with Irvin to spend one more day with my long lost family. I had a mother and father too, I don't think they would ever recognize their child after what Irvin did for me. Remember this, Faraday. You don't know Irvin, I do, and I can tell you that he is more than a pokémon master. He knew you would take advantage of me, so he prepared me. He trained me to do his taxes, do chores, and police his other pokémon, so I would be ready to face you alone. I was too grief-stricken then to realize that, but now I know. I do not know what kind of feelings you had for me then, but if you really want to earn my respect, treat me as your fellow human being with feelings and not some celebrity of the fucking flat screen TV._

 _And finally, for the government of the Sovereign Republic of Faraday and its leaders, stick a straw up your ass and suck it deep!_

 _Fuck you!_

 _Sincerely, by what you call me,_

 _Tesla Westinghouse_

 _Sincerely, by the name my beloved mama called me,_

 _Sparky_

 **. . .**

I did a quick check for spelling and grammatical errors, then wrote today's date and time on the corner of the letter. I folded it up, slipped inside the envelope, then licked the epoxy glue and sealed it. I wrote the sender address to Irvin's farm of the center face of the envelope, but I wrote the return address to the private airport on the corner. I'm sure the grandson wouldn't mind if I borrowed his business address. Andy was just about done with the form, I asked the pilot if he had a mail stamp somewhere. He went back to his office and handed a stamp to me, I stuck it on the corner and walked over to the front of the airport reception desk to the mailbox. It was rusted and spray painted black, not to mention it was very rickety. The red flag was already up, I opened it up and saw there were a few outgoing envelopes ready to be shipped. I stuck my letter with them and sealed up the mailbox, then returned to Andy.

"You're ready?" he asked.

"I'm ready."

The plane we would be riding was a small private jet. The white paint job was sleek, very crisp. It was a new model, I was old enough to hitch a flight on propeller planes. I guess jet engines have made them obsolete. The pilot attached a fuel hose and began loading the plane up with fuel, I watched the plane creaked and groan before I heard the pump click. With the plane topped off with fuel, the pilot put the hose back on the rack and turned off the bio-fuel pump. "Okay, the plane is set to go."

The pilot opened the side hatch and let Andy and I inside. The plane had nice blue velvet couches and a thin sky-blue carpet. The air smelled crisp with lavender, I sat down the couch and buckled myself in as Andy sat opposite of me. I think there was a fridge in the back, probably filled with alcohol. I wasn't in the mood to drink, not until I find my son.

When the pilot started up the engine, the engines wind up to full speed and the plane lurched forward and rolled out into the air strip. The pilot lined it up with the lines. "We're going to takeoff now," he said on the intercom. "Hang tight."

I felt the plane sped down the runway and felt its landing gear lift off the ground. The plane leaned back and gained altitude, I closed my eyes and waited for the plane to reach cruising altitude.

"If you want," said the pilot over the intercom, "I can fly above Faraday City and give you a good view of the metropolis, it will only be a few minutes though. I cannot stay flying around this airspace forever."

The seatbelt icon beeped off, I took off my seatbelt and climbed up to one of the windows. When I looked down, I saw Faraday City in all of its glory. I had looked down upon the city a few times in the past, usually from the window of a Cessna. The moments were so rare that every time I get a good look at the city, I noticed it got slightly larger since last time. The city had been steadily growing since the first skyscraper was ten stories tall. Now glass monoliths dominate the scene. It was the first time in decades that I have ever saw the city from above.

"You can't tell the city is being invaded from up here," said Andy. "It looks so normal."

He was right, I couldn't see any smoke or any Dixierats from up here. Word would soon spread that I have returned, but I don't think anybody would notice that I had left at a moment's notice. The denizens of Faraday were chasing independence, I was chasing my freedom and whatever family I had left.

"Tesla, you okay?"

Andy scooped me up and scratched my back, his touch felt slightly different from Irvin but similar enough to make me almost confuse him as his grandfather. I said, "I'm fine, Andy."

He said, "What was Nobark's last moments were like? Was he desperate?"

"Scared," I said. "I'm not surprised he had second thoughts. He came to me a few nights before and asked me to finally carry out Irvin's orders. I asked him how he want it done, he said he wanted it done in a bloody mess, like it was his final stand. I didn't do it right away because I want him to reconsider his options, but a part of me knew he was finished. Delaying it turned out to be a big mistake, so many lives were lost the following days."

"Soho fell," said Andy.

"Its charter was actually revoked by the Unova government, unfortunately that did not stop people from all over Unova to come into the town and raise chaos. It was anarchy, whatever civil authority the Soho PD had was gone. I barely got out of there in one piece, I just don't know what is really happening over there anymore."

Andy turned me around so I would face him. "How do you see yourself, Tesla?"

"A victim of circumstance."

"Is that how you define your life?"

"Pretty much. I don't have to go to trouble, trouble comes to me."

Andy said, "If you want, I can drop you off at your son's house and head over to Pallet Town to see if Ash is still there."

"Yes, you can do that. But do not interact with him, nor let him see you. If we are being followed, Interpol will tag Ash and his associates as potential suspects and possibly destroy their lives. I don't know how far Interpol would go in tracking us down, so please, Andy, don't even go near Ash. If you find his house, take down the address and wait for me."

"You even know where your old burrow was?"

I thought for a moment, "Last I recall, it was underneath a tree on the edge of a clearing. It is deep within the heart of pikachu territory. You know, it would be good to see my old pack again, even though I may be long forgotten."

"Would you know if it is your old pack?"

"I may be forgetful in this time of age, but my ancient memories are still intact. I know what my pack looks and smells like. It might have been divided up to form new family groups, so we'll need to track down the biggest one we could find and locate the oldest mouse in the pack. But my son is the main priority here, I am not doing any side quests until I find him." I closed my eyes and shifted onto my side, Andy stroked my back for a few seconds. Then I realized something, "I wonder how he made it all the way to Kanto and not hang out around the Unova region."

"Probably the breeder moved him there because it is the pikachu's natural habitat."

I said, "I know the pokémon breeders, especially Polly's handler. They would not do such a thing. Chances are my son was picked up by his trainer, why would his trainer adopt a pikachu so far away from Kanto is beyond me."

 **. . .**

The pilot told us we were now out of Faradian airspace and were traveling in international territory. It was going to be a long trip, so Andy took the time to change my bandages. They weren't bleeding anymore, not even pus built up. Andy disinfected the wounds and wrapped them up, I asked, "What were you doing in your youth by the way, like how did you get a hold of jugs of moonshine and maple syrup?"

He said, "I was working with some friends at a farm, who happened to share close ties with Irvin. The Unova courts had granted a ridiculous high tax on moonshine that caused people to stop buying moonshine and seek their shopping in the black market. I was making quite a lot of cash from the moonshine alone, navigating the wilderness to operate the stills was always an adventure. Lugging crates of moonshine around was always a bitch, but it pays off in the end."

"Faraday Island tried to enforce the court ruling?"

"No, they established a counter-law that prevented provincial and local authorities from enforcing regional laws. That caused a lot of controversy, Unova didn't take the province to the World Court because they knew they will fight a war over it, and a war is a last thing anybody needs."

"What about that maple syrup thing?"

Andy said, "A group of concerned maple syrup producers created the Federation of Maple Syrup Trade and Production, the World Court granted them powers to regulate the maple syrup trade. Do you know Faraday Island is the highest producers of maple syrup in the world?"

I then got the idea where this is heading. "Oh, I see what is happening."

"Yup, the Syrup regulators tried to assert their power in Faraday Island. Unfortunately, much like the moonshine, the Faradian government produced a counter-law that prevented their own authorities from enforcing the maple syrup laws. This time the FMSTP took Faraday Island to court, the island lost and were told to give up all of its syrup production to the institution."

I said, "But they refused."

"Actually they complied, but it was just a ploy. While the court case was going on, Faraday established a handful of syrup cartels to protect their maple syrup reserve. And so when the FMSTP came in to seize the supplies, they were ambushed and detained by the cartels. Then Governor Morgan sent a letter to the World Court explaining what had happened. Officially nobody knew what had happened to the two dozen men and women who were sent by the FMSTP, but I knew what happened."

"How?" I asked.

Andy smiled, "I was there, all the regulators were killed and their bodies submerged and buried in white barrels full of maple syrup."

"Damn."

"Some of them were even buried alive."

"Even worse."

Andy sat back and said, "Some back room deals went on for a year, and we haven't had much trouble after that. Again, nobody wanted a war, but little did the UN know that Faraday Island was more than eager to have one. A common stereotype of the average Faradian citizen is that everyone on the rock acted and behaved like a SWAT team member, but we all know they're worse than that."

He rubbed one of my ears, I relaxed and closed my eyes. "How did you and Irvin go about in your travels?"

I said, "I remember the last time we went to Kanto, we were there for a business trip."

"What kind of business trip?"

"A meeting with Team Rocket. Details are classified, but I can tell you it didn't end well. But before the meeting we went to go see the Indigo League. It was intense, had a few interesting characters. In my opinion it sucked, horribly. When we weren't watching the League, Irvin and I went to the flea markets and purchased several souvenirs. He was very fond of old zippo lighters, so he bought a bunch of them and I spent the night packing them in a padded express box to ship back home. It wasn't cheap, but Irvin had money to throw around."

"I heard he got into a bar fight at the Indigo Plateau."

I frowned, "Now that, Andy, was very intense and very stupid of him. He knew the league manager by heart, they seem to like each other. I wasn't very interested but I got pulled along anyway. I have to admit, the bar was pretty nice, can't remember the name but I do remember how that night ended."

"How?"

"The league manager had some enemies at that bar, big tough guys who have no investment in the long-term of their life. They used to be Indigo League participants but were either disqualified or unable to win. So when our limey league manager showed up, their testosterone started flowing and were looking for a fight."

"And what happened?"

"They confronted the two, and Irvin tried to talk them down. But they snapped anyway, and the league manager hid behind Irvin, screaming, 'Deal with them, Westinghouse! Deal with them!' I have to admit, that was the most brilliant quote I have ever heard of Irvin. So this is what Irvin did, he grabbed a nearby baseball bat that was prominently displayed off the wall and started beating the living shit out of the thugs. I left the bar, went around the back and cut the phone line so the damn bar owner wouldn't call the police. Not too much damage had occurred but there was a lot of blood, Irvin was quite the heavy hitter."

"Oh, that explains a lot."

"The baseball bat in question is still at that bar, displayed in a glass case on the wall, still stained in blood. I guess the owner took pride in that bat, he knew who Irvin was because his father had met him when they were both young. Irvin paid for the damages after we got home so it was all good. I think that made the league manager's night, shame he isn't around anymore."

I went silent for a moment, then asked, "Andy, you think my son would like me?"

"Why you say that?"

"If he ever wondered who his parents were, he might get angry with me, asking me where I was when he was young."

"He has a supportive and loving trainer, no way would anger be a part of his personality."

"How can you be sure?"

Andy sat me down beside him and opened up his backpack, he pulled out a yellow folder and handed it to me. "I've done my homework, I accessed enough databases to get a summary of his trainer's personality."

I opened up the folder, inside was the trainer's picture on the cover page of his profile. He looked like Ash's type. He had raven hair, except it was brown, and his eyes were green rather than brown. His IQ seemed reasonably good, and his credentials told me he had an Associates in Science. I saw some clues he might have studied to become a pokémon doctor but took on the racecar profession instead. "When was this picture taken?" I asked.

"When he was 23 years old," said Andy. "There's another picture of him in the back."

I pulled out his profile and flipped through his profile. The guy's name was Trevor Faber, according to his birthday he was 76 years old. He had a single son, and three grandchildren.

The profile told me the trainer was deceased, from a car accident just ten years ago.

When I reached the back of the profile, I found another picture of Trevor. He was smiling with a group of friends, and on his shoulder was my son. He had Polly's eyes and my nose and ears. Wheels, my son's name. He looked so happy in the photo, and they looked so young too.

I packed the file back into the folder and handed back to Andy. "You alright, Tesla?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm just not surprised that his trainer is also gone, I don't think my son is around either."

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	21. Chapter 21

_Chapter 21_

"This son will be in better condition than the elder Dixierat," said Andy. "He has access to healthcare."

"So did the elder Dixierat, unfortunately pokémon centers can't fix emotional pain."

"Wheels has emotional support _and_ healthcare."

"The elder Dixierat had you."

"I was at the best of my abilities."

I looked away. "Yes, you were."

I turned to the fridge in the back, just next to the latrine. "Is there anything to drink in that fridge?"

Andy got up and opened the small refrigerator. "Some red wine."

"Good enough."

 **. . .**

We had some wine for the later part of the flight, my thoughts became cloudy and my mood improved. Andy kept grooming my back, he knew where the sweet spots were. I laid down and relaxed, for a moment I felt young again.

"Tell me about Polly," Andy said. "What made you so close to her?"

I sighed, "I don't know, it's like we found each other and love stuck."

"How did you two meet?"

"It was the beginning of Irvin's career, he just earned the title Pokémon Master. Word spread of his skills and my special abilities. Breeders got word and wanted to harness my power. So one day, we got a call from the Faraday City Pokémon Laboratory, the breeder division, and they request to set up a meeting. When we got there, the chief professor at the time laid down the contract before us. Irvin read that contract head to toe as the chief professor explained, 'Here, we'll give you one of our best genetically suitable pikachus for your pikachu to breed with in exchange for compensation of your efforts.' Much of those dollars were taxed, but still, it was a nice sum of money to help pay the bills. I think that was where Irvin got the idea of establishing the Dixierats. I wasn't sure what to make of it, it took some convincing on Irvin's part to get me to agree to the deal."

"Why is that?"

"Because I will not get to see any of the resulting offspring, according to the contract."

Andy poured me another glass of wine and I took a sip. "So every Monday, I was taken to the lab and placed inside a small dark box. I remember meeting Polly for the first time. It was dark, and our eyes found each other. I think she was weeks old at the time, I couldn't be sure. I was well into my late thirties, and even then I was still old enough to be called her father. I don't think she mind, because she was brushing against my side and licking me, and I proceeded to groom her. We had all the time in the world and I do not want to rush it."

"Who named her Polly?"

"Don't know, neither did she. They just started calling her Polly one day and the name stuck. We both had some small talk, and then she started pressing her butt against my stomach. I think she was bred to be a sex addict, you need cooperation from pokémon if you're going to breed them after all. I didn't know what I was doing at the time, but then I remembered how my parents mated when I was just a pichu. So I followed my father's footsteps and got into the usual position, and Polly and I mated."

"How was it?"

"For me, it went quick, but I think it lasted a little longer for Polly. Whatever the case, it went well. She soon became pregnant and laid a glistening pichu egg. Low and behold, I had become a father."

"It changes your whole perspective in the world."

"Yes, it did, for a while. I was there to watch her lay the egg, and that was the only time I was ever there to see her give birth. I got a brief moment to hold the egg, Wheels's egg, and then the breeders took it from me. According to the contract, I was forbidden to keep any of the offspring Polly produced. That was hard on me, but not overwhelming. It was when the contract expired and Polly disappeared when I was overcome with grief. That is another story for another day."

I sat up and glanced out the window, seeing nothing but blue waters and sky. "What time is it?"

"Depends on what time zone we're in. It's already 1800 for Faraday Island and we had already passed four time zones. So for us, it's 1400."

"Two `o clock," I said. "No wonder the sun is still up."

I closed my eyes and yawned. "Might as well sleep to avoid jet lag."

 **. . .**

I only slept for an hour, for me it felt forever. I looked up and saw Andy lying across the opposing couch, snoring. I tried to fall back to sleep but merely rested. I laid there for a few minutes, then the intercom came on. An electronic female voice spoke, _"Average temperature and wind speed in Kanto is fifteen degrees Celsius and five kilometers per hour. Overcast skies over the Orange Archipelago, with an average temperature of twenty-one degrees Celsius. Wind speed is two kilometers."_

If that meant anything, it could mean we're not far from the Kanto region. The question is, where are we landing in Kanto? It sounds like we're going to work up a hike around Kanto, assuming Andy could not rent us a car. _"Time is six forty-two PM, Bravo Standard Time."_

Bravo, right.

I got down from the couch and started going through the plane's inventory. I opened up the cupboards, searching for anything interesting. Most of the cabinets were empty, but I found some reading material in the back. Books, appearing to be a few years old. I reached in and picked one of them up, the cover had a weird green-like humanoid creature in an aquatic environment on the cover. I picked it up and checked the copyright date, it was only five years old. I glanced back at Andy, he was still sleeping on the couch, snoring away. I took the book back to my own couch and began reading it.

From what I could make out, it talked about a utopia in the bottom of the sea for a multi-colored race of humanoid amphibians. One particular family had total control over the utopia, both its General Assembly and Supreme Court. Just outside this utopia was a business empire in the middle of a wasteland, where these green fish creature twins had total control over. The main plot of the book is that much of the utopia's citizens, most of whom who opposed the ruling governor and his family, left the utopia in droves to seek a better life in the dyad's capitalist empire. Eventually these citizens slowly went insane from the nuclear and toxic waste that was dumped into the environment, causing some mutations. It got so bad that the dyad could not control half of his workers. It got even worse when some of the "feral" denizens went back to the utopia, armed with stolen weapons in an attempt to overthrow the ruling family. The utopia was on the verge of civil war.

I read the book further, I couldn't understand how these characters work. They were so happy, maybe because they had ignored their own personal problems. Turns out the dyad was a sub-group from a much larger family, whose grandfather worked at the local utility plant. From what I could gather, the dyad was slowly buying out the businesses and residences of the utopia and putting them up on rent for profit. These twins were buying stocks, buying out businesses of the utopia. They were weird, but they were selfless. Somehow this brought the utopia on the edge of civil war. A family divided, while another struggling to maintain its hold on power.

I read the book until my eyes hurt, and then I put it aside. How did this aquatic universe relate to Faraday Island's civil war? The island had a socialist economic system, not a capitalist economic system. The stock market was outlawed and all major corporations were owned by the provincial government. This wasn't a country where power came front the government down, it came from the people up. The only similarity between Faraday Island and the underwater utopia was the families who seized control of its culture.

I sat there, staring at the wall for what seemed like an eternity. I then felt the nose of the plane tipped downward. The seatbelt light came on, I turned to Andy and made a sharp whistle. The pokémon doctor stirred from his nap. He didn't need to be told to buckle in, Andy saw the sign and quickly slapped the seatbelt over his waist. "Do you still feel that Kanto is your home?" he asked.

I said, "I never had any patriotic pride for Kanto. I grew up with a family sense, not a national sense. I didn't even know what the name of Kanto was until I was captured by Team Rocket, and the name was continuously being dropped while I was in the process of being transferred throughout the various pokémon labs."

"What about Viridian Forest?"

"Never gave much thought about it, I was young at the time."

The intercom went live and the pilot's voice spoke. "We're just about to touchdown at Kanto, once I let you off I am going to take off as soon as I drop you off. You will need to find another flight back home."

 **. . .**

We landed as steadily as he first took flight. Once the plane's landing gear touched the tarmac, the pilot cruised the plane back and killed the engines. When the plane was dead silent, the pilot emerged from the cockpit. Andy unbuckled his seatbelt and shook the pilot's hand. "Pleasure doing business with you," said Andy. "Hope you safely fly back home."

"I'll try, Dr. Westinghouse. You best be off, the guy owning the private airport knows what to do."

I unbuckled my seatbelt and placed the book back in the cupboard where I found it, then I hopped onto Andy's shoulder. We emerged from the cockpit and into the Kanto environment. The air smelled like hot tar and diesel fuel, probably from the fumes of the airport. Andy stepped onto the tarmac and headed over toward the main administrator building. The private jet's door kicked back up, when we reached the building the engines started back up. We didn't stick around to watch it take off back to Faraday Island.

Andy walked right into the administration building where the manager greeted him. This guy was much younger than the manager of the Faraday private airport. His clothes were ridiculously stylish and colorful. I frowned, he was another avid pokémon trainer. I hate it when pokémon trainers and gym leaders wear flashy and colorful clothing, what a way to show off to the world of how much of a moron you are.

"Heard from the pilot you were coming," the manager said. "I'm Frederick Marsh, you need anything?"

"Where's the nearest car rental?" Andy asked.

"A far away from here I'm afraid. You're on Mt. Moon Road east of Pewter City, make your way there and you should find a car rental on main street."

"We'll walk from here," said Andy. "Thank you, sir."

"Just follow the signs, and you will be on your way." The trainer's eyes turned toward me, the urge to hiss at him surged within me. Then I remembered I had barely any teeth left to flash. "Oh," he said. "Is this your pikachu?"

"My grandfather's actually," said Andy. "I suggest you don't look into his eyes, you will only see your own emotions reflected back at you. He does not like having attention and he will incapacitate you if you try to pet him."

I felt my anger cool, Irvin would rub it in but Andy would defuse the situation. Then Fred said, "Why is he so hostile?"

"He had his family taken away from him by Team Rocket poachers, a long time ago near Pallet Town. We're here to see if there is anything left."

Fred nodded, "Hope you find what you're looking for. Just for the record, Viridian Forest is not big as it once was. Forestry operation has shrank the woodlands by 40% in the past 30 years. Not to mention they also put a hydroelectric dam near Viridian City. The water backed up into the forest and changed the landscape, it wouldn't be as your grandfather's pikachu had remembered it."

"Thank you for the info, we'll be going now."

Andy stepped outside, a dirt road was laid out before us. He followed the road up to the main one, which was actually a two-lane asphalt road. A sign that read _Pewter City_ pointed west, Andy started walking that direction.

I said, "Viridian City is practically next door to Pallet Town, I wonder if Ash is still there."

"How long since you last seen him?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. A week, maybe two. I lost track of time after that stint with Nobark. He might have already arrived at Pallet Town by the time I was picked up by the URP." I paused for a moment. "By the way, nice touch on the emotions part with Fred back there. That pretty much accurately describes my situation."

"You feeling alright, Tes?"

"I'll feel better once I figure out where my son is."

 **. . .**

The walk wasn't that unpleasant, because Andy did most of the walking. I didn't feel like getting exercise for my legs. I was tired and fighting off jet lag. The only thing keeping me awake was the thought of my son's condition. I tried not to dose off by scanning the Kanto environment. I feel like a tourist in my own home region. I don't belong here anymore, it just didn't feel like the world I used to live in with my parents. I wondered if Team Rocket was still as strong as ever. The amount of pitfalls should bankrupt the organization, but something was keeping them afloat. NGO's don't just wither and die when you cut off its head, they will always grow two more no matter what. The only way to kill an NGO is the body itself, but since there were multiple entities of Team Rocket they will always be a thorn in this world's side no matter what.

Irvin and I always come to Kanto because of his Team Rocket connections. At first I didn't feel comfortable, because this was the very organization that destroyed me. But I slowly found acceptance within their fold. Not all Team Rocket members were all that bad. Officially they do heinous things, but personally they weren't as evil as they should be. They were like Irvin, looking forward to make extra cash. They were rational people, not fanatics. No wonder I became a part-time member in the criminal organization.

I held multiple positions while working with Team Rocket. I don't tell people much about my work history with them. I have no regrets for what I had done for them, because nothing can be more damaging than what they had did to my family. That was all forgotten though, ancient history. I did looked into where my family went. I had Irvin pull a few strings with his connections, nothing positive came up. But what did came up was my initial reputation. It only took months for the Team Rocket leadership to realize who I was, and then things started falling into place.

I don't know why they ever trusted me, maybe Irvin convinced them to keep me around. They initially didn't want me around due to my background and personal prejudices with the NGO. In the end, they put me to work at their illegal pokémon prison, where I get to see the classical suffering of poached pokémon. I knew what it was like in those cages, I have been in their position. I was lucky enough to be sold off, most of the pokémon in the main Team Rocket prison weren't so fortunate. Back then they kept all the pokémon in small cells, built with thick diamond-impregnated steel bars. Now they used force field technology to hold their pokémon, but back then, intimidation, rather than technology, was the concept.

I was deployed as a prison guard in the main prison. It was not uncommon for pokémon to be prison guards, mainly because they were owned by trainers and were obedient to them no matter what. I was different. While my other co-workers had no concept with philosophy and ideology, I did. I was already a highly educated pikachu by the time Irvin and I were first hired, and I put that education to use.

I first worked with pokémon around my size. When they get rowdy, they start banging against their cells was and making noise. My job is to go in and pull them out of their cell, then beat them until they pass out. Forget morality and reason, Team Rocket needed these pokémon for experiments and profit and I had a job to do. My work was done well, suppression rates went up 40 percent. Team Rocket was so impressed that I was given a promotion, and next they tasked me for negotiation. Sometimes these pokémon had information they need, and thanks to my literacy, I can write down intelligence reports about what was going on around the prison. Every session was the same, Team Rocket comes in and strap a random pokémon, usually around my size, to the floor or a chair, and I come in and persuade them into giving information. I get them comfortable, and then sweet talk them. Sometimes I would read the profile of these pokémon and get a better understand of their reputation and history. Some of these pokémon were wild-born, others were born and raised in pokémon labs. They tell me the same old shit, _"I was kidnapped in the wild." "My trainer sold me off to a dealer." "I was abandoned by my trainer."_ I filled up plenty of profiles without laying a finger on those pokémon. Team Rocket was impressed, and were curious by my sudden change in personality. So just to show who is still in charge, they put me on intimidation detail.

All I had to do was beat any rebelling pokémon non-stop until they break. These weren't the kind of pokémon that will stand on one foot if you tell them. These were the hardcore of the hardcore, the worst of the worst. The most uncompliant and aggressive pokémon given maximum security cells. I even performed some jobs on super-maximum security pokémon, and they were always memorable. At first I used words, then brute force, until finally I found a convenient balance between the two. One time I had to pacify a member of my own kind, which was a bitch to do. The albino was very stubborn and aggressive, so I hacked off his tail and leg. He screamed so loud that any deoxyses living in space could hear it.

But that was a long time ago, the past was behind me. I made peace with the albino in question, bailed him out of jail, I have only seen in once in the past sixty years. Not sure where he is now, but I got a feeling he is doing alright.

"Pewter City shouldn't be that far now," said Andy.

"Good, because I feel like having a nap at the pokémon center."

The city rose from the distance like any other town. I have to hand it to the engineers who design these cities. They have a habit of placing them in low end valleys while having all the major routes curve over the hills, so every time you were to walk over these hills you get a good view of the city itself. Faraday Island didn't have the luxury of hills, it was built on a flat plain just a stone's throw away from the ocean. Now _that_ city didn't need a special optical design, the tall skyscrapers were enough.

We walked into town and started making our way toward the nearest pokémon center. I quickly took notice that the locals weren't taking notice of me as I was used to. Every time their eyes were to come my way, they would just roll over me like I never existed. I hadn't felt so comfortable in a long time, for once in my life I was blending into the crowd. This was Kanto after all, where pikachus are a common sight.

Andy and I located the pokémon center, its urbanite architecture was no different than other city pokémon centers I have been to. I soon saw immediate differences when we stepped through the front door. Instead of audinos, there were chanceys. I hadn't seen a chancey and years, and by Ho-Oh, these pink butterballs are fat as fuck. The Nurse Joy wore a classic white nurse gown and cap, reminding me of the porn movies my dead WA friends used to watch. I felt the sense of home, but there was something about it that didn't feel right. Andy made a straight walk toward the reception desk where the Nurse Joy was busy typing away on the computer. I shoved all the dirty thoughts into the back of my mind and showed an innocent face, but I couldn't help but stare at the chancey who was dusting the windows.

"Can I help you?" the Nurse Joy asked.

"Yes," said Andy. "Where's the nearest car rental?"

"Just down the road, make a left and it should be by the science museum."

"Got a bed available?"

"Yes, we have one available. How long do you want to stay?"

"Till tomorrow."

The Nurse Joy typed a few more things into her computer. "Alright, sir. Feel free to use the restrooms, if you have any questions feel free to ask." She squinted at Andy's musty white lab coat. "To come to think of it, you may already have the answers."

"I have a Masters in Pokémon Medicine, a Doctorate in Emergency Medicine, and a Doctorate for Surgical Medicine."

"You're a pokémon doctor."

"Took me a decade to complete my education."

She glanced over at me, for some reason I didn't feel violated but rather at peace. "Is that your pikachu?"

Before Andy could answer, I replied, "No, I belong to his grandfather."

She jumped from my response. "You can talk?"

"My trainer taught me, he also taught me how to read and write. I have a Certificate in General Education and loaded with experience, not as educated as Doc here but I'm twice his age and more mature."

Andy stuck out his hand. "My name is Doctor Andrew Westinghouse, this here is Tesla Westinghouse. He served my grandfather for seventy years, now he speaks for him."

"Andy, I remembered when you were in the incubation chamber." I turned back to Nurse Joy. "The reason why he went into a career in medicine because he bust his head open and was fascinated at the inside of a hospital room. I made sure his brains didn't leak out. You're welcome, Andy. You're welcome."

He chuckled, "He appreciates it if you don't press him further about his past, or try to pet him, or feed him pokémon food or even try to hug him."

"Andy, please."

Nurse Joy's videophone rang. "Take care you too," she said. "It was a pleasure talking with you."

She got up and answered the videophone, Andy walked toward the restroom and stepped inside. "She didn't seem to know my grandfather."

"Which is relief for me," I said. "She wasn't old enough."

"You think she would believe you are 107 years old?"

"I don't exactly have a birth certificate, Andy."

Andy scooped me up and sat me down on the bench. He opened up a locker and took his lab coat off, "How exactly did you determine your age anyway."

"My mama told me I was born on the day the portable computer first hit the market, so right when she laid me that afternoon she started noticing all these computers started popping up at the stores during my dad's scavenging runs later that day. So while I was putting together my GED, I looked up the portable computer and discovered that day."

"I thought you said you were born when the computer was invented, and that your parent's keep track of the calendar."

"They kept track after that, because they saw value in dates."

Andy thought for a moment, "So when is your birthday?"

I said nothing.

"You don't want to tell me."

"Once you reach my age, you'll realize how insignificant it is to celebrate birthdays."

My birthday was on the first of March, I didn't want to tell him because it was approaching. Thinking back at that moment, I kind of wish I did.

 **. . .**

Andy and I spent the day recovering from jet lag. He had taken a shower and put on free pokémon center clothing. The chanseys were kind enough to take his doctor's coat and the rest of his clothes to the laundry room. They hand washed his clothing, including his socks, cleaned his boots, and hanged them all on a clothing line for them to dry. The chanseys even ironed out the wrinkles. All this work made me wonder if they ever get out much, they must be paid well enough to handle the stress of their jobs.

I had just finished taking a shower and brushing my teeth when I bumped into one of them. I was just leaving the public restroom when one of them strolled by. The egg pokémon was carrying a stack of towels with both hands. She looked at me with that simple face of hers and smiled, _"How are you doing this fine day, Pikachu?"_

I said in pokémon speech. _"Better than yesterday, that's for sure."_

For some reason I followed her as she made her way to the girl's bathroom. She went in and I waited outside, she emerged seconds later. _"You from around here?"_

 _"Yes,"_ I said. _"From another time, when tragedy happened."_

 _"What happened?"_

 _"Poachers took my parents and sold me off the black market. Never saw my family again, never recovered. It was quite a dramatic unhappy ending."_

 _"I'm sorry."_

I shrugged. _"I'm a victim of circumstance, there isn't much anyone can do for me now. I just sucked it up and moved on, it's ancient history now."_

The chansey scanned me from head to toe. _"You're malnourished and injured, I never see a pikachu your age tolerate such ailments."_

 _"I was treated with the best medicine and doctors Faraday Island had to offer, I didn't asked to be treated but it would be rude to deny it. If they want me around, then they'll have me around."_

The chansey's eyes lit up. _"Oh, Faraday Island. I had heard they had the best equipment and education for their medical institutions."_

 _"Correct,"_ I said. _"They're always looking for new doctors, I think you'll need to go back to medical school and take a few classes before you could get a job there. Their rules are a lot stricter, more institutionalized and less personal. The Island isn't so dependent on Nurse Joys like the rest of the world."_

 _"I heard they also breed mad scientists."_

 _"That is also true, not evil ones but weird enough to raise a few eyebrows. Even the medical assistance there aren't spared from insanity."_

The chansey said, _"Are there chanseys there, since it's close to Unova and they employ audinos?"_

I said, _"A few, they come from all over the world to study and work there."_

 _"How are the audinos?"_

I shrugged, _"No better than what you can do. They're more sensitive and they tend to have OCD. They would freak out if their stack of report papers are moved."_

The chansey said, _"I never met an audino, what are they like? Do they really have monkey tails on their ears that they use as stethoscopes?"_

 _"Yes, they do use them as stethoscopes. Audinos tend to be curvy in certain places. Most of them are female, but there is an occasional male. All of the audinos I have ever met always had some issue with their quotas and they take their jobs way too seriously. I know of one case where one finally snapped and went rogue, and that ended badly."_

The egg pokémon said, _"I've heard of the story while I was at medical school. Was it at Soho?"_

I raised an eyebrow. _"You heard about what happened recently at Soho?"_

The chansey just looked at me with confusion. _"Something happened?"_

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**


	22. Chapter 22

_Chapter 22_

One of two possibilities may had occurred. One, the regions of the world are more focused on happier things and care only about local events. Or two, the world government had censored the Soho riot and Faradian Revolution. Both may be true, or only one of them may be true. The chansey's small button eyes look down at me with confusion and curiosity. I have a few options. I could downplay the events and my involvement in both of them, or dump the whole package on her lap. Either way, I had a feeling that Interpol may be on to me. Whether the chansey liked it or not, she was in the fold now because of her acquaintance with me. I have to make a decision, I just hope the world government wasn't as tyrannical as I feared.

 _"Historical events happened recently,"_ I said. _"A scandal happened in Soho, the local law enforcement agency was accused of corruption. It was so bad that Unova revoked the city's charter and sent in the regional police force to take over. The residents were protesting for their freedom, and things were peaceful until a mass group of individuals from all over the region started coming in, looking to cause mass violence and destruction of property. Was any of this on the news?"_

 _"No,"_ said the chansey. _"None of it was on the news."_

 _"A completely unrelated event occurred in Faraday Island. Now they were looking for independence for decades, the Soho riots was the last straw. Now a revolution has started and they are demanding their independence."_

 _"That sounds serious,"_ she said.

 _"The story about that rogue audino is tied up to the riots, but it is only a footnote to the whole picture. I met with the audino herself, and the victim's sister. They both told me their side of the story and it all matched up. It's over now, a done deal, the pokémon center in question was forced to close their doors permanently."_

The chansey pointed at my bandages. _"Those are gunshot wounds, I knew what they were the moment I saw you. Those came from a high-powered assault rifle, it should have killed you."_

 _"It didn't,"_ I said. _"The doctors were very thorough."_

 _"Who shot at you? Did you see him?"_

I shrugged, _"Someone who killed an old friend of mine, it's over now, I'm more worried about other things at the moment."_

I followed the chansey toward the back of the pokémon center. There was a mini café in the back. Andy was sitting at the table, talking with someone. He had brown spiky hair and thin eyes, the bright lab coat told me he was also a pokémon doctor.

"You are a specialist in pikachus?" the doctor asked.

Andy said, "I've been studying them for years. You see, Brock, that these particular pikachus are very social. Unlike your average chu in Kanto, these pikachus are so tame that you can go right up to them and pick them up. They're descendants of former lab pokémon that were used for breeding and experiments, so they are used to being handled."

I frowned, Andy may be more carrying than Irvin but he is just as snobbish. I glanced at the chansey, _"Who's the guy with the spiky hair?"_

 _"That's Brock, my trainer. We've been partners-in-crime for a while now. In fact, he used to travel around the world, visiting multiple regions and such."_

 _"Did he travel alone?"_

The chansey shook her head. _"Oh no, he traveled with someone. A young boy from Pallet Town named Ash."_

My eyes bulged. _"Ash Ketchum?"_

 _"You know him?"_

 _"We've met on Faraday Island under bad terms, but it turned out right in the end. He recently got caught in the middle of the dilemma in Soho, I had to bail him out."_

 _"Did he make it out alright?"_

 _"I think so, but he was pretty shaken up over it."_

The chansey glanced at the clock. _"I better get back to work. You take care, Pikachu."_

 _"You take care as well."_

The chansey walked off toward the staff room. I didn't feel like joining Andy and the chansey's trainer to chat, so I wandered out of the café and started exploring the rest of the pokémon center. I wasn't looking for anything particular, but I was hoping there was a library or a simple bookshelf. The lobby had a few magazines. I spotted a few newspapers sitting by the coffee table. I climbed on it and examined the newspapers. One of them was a local paper, another was a regional paper. I grabbed the regional paper and sat on the couch. I was looking for anything with any references toward Unova and Faraday, I half-expected to see my face on the paper. The paper was just a day old, I found nothing besides regional sporting events, competitions, newly developed infrastructure. The comics weren't funny and somebody filled out all the crossword and word-search puzzles.

I checked the paper itself. It hadn't been held by many hands, I could tell due to the lack of thumbprints and ink smears on the edges of the paper. Either this pokémon center hadn't seen much traffic or the trainers in question never bothered to pick up the paper at all. I folded up the paper and tossed it back on the newspaper, then picked up the local paper. Same result, nothing but events and happy moments. I started to see a pattern. I went back through both papers and found there was no crime section, no obituaries, no legal cases. Nothing negative at all. I then checked the magazines, skimmed through a few pages. Nothing but public gossip and mishaps. Again, nothing negative. The only thing bad was a squirtle slipping off a log and scraped his knee. I mean, what the fuck?

"Is everything okay?" Nurse Joy asked as she approached.

I tossed the magazine back on the counter. "I've lived long enough to know that there is more shit happening out there to fill these newspapers and magazines. Is there anything here that talks about interregional news?"

"No, we don't have a subscription for _The World Times_."

"Why is that?"

"It isn't in our budget to pay for the newspaper, it's expensive."

"Is that what they told you or is that from experience?"

"It's what they told me."

I frowned, "That newspaper is no more expensive than the regional newspaper. You can cut out half of the magazine subscriptions here to fit in _The World Times_."

"I have no authority over that."

I stared off at the wall for a moment. "Does this pokémon center have internet access?"

"Yes, it does."

"Can you look up the _Faraday News Agency's_ website?"

The Nurse Joy walked over to her desk and pulled up the Nintendo search engine and typed in, _Faraday News Agency._ I crawled up on the reception desk and got a look at the screen. I didn't need to tell her where to click, she knew where the official news site is. The website loaded and, rather than showing the official homepage, a bright black censor block appeared, along with the International Police logo. "That's odd," said Nurse Joy. "I never stumbled into a censored website before."

"And this is a news website," I said. "Go back to the search engine and try finding _The World Times._ "

Nurse Joy went back and typed in the name in the search engine, she located the official website address and pulled it up. It wasn't censored, but all it had was the same bullshit as the newspaper's contents.

"I'm telling you, there should be more here. Is Interpol cracking down on thought crime or what?"

Nurse Joy said, "Never had anyone complained about this before, the trainers used the computers all the time and had never stumbled upon a censored website."

"That's because they weren't looking for them, or they never gave it such thought because it is a public wi-fi after all."

 **. . .**

Dinner was subtle that night. I didn't feel hungry and I was sure not interested in cheap pokémon food. All I had that night was water and a peppermint, then I brushed my teeth before going to bed.

The living quarters were multiple rooms, fitted with one or two double-beds. The mattresses were of high-quality memory foam, according to the tag it was four years old and made out of 99% recycled foam. Yeah, recycled foam, my consciousness is _really_ at ease knowing that I am saving the environment by snoring on these public mattresses. The bedsheets were cold and clean, recently washed and ironed for the next person to sleep in. I sat on the bed and watched Andy strip down to his t-shirt and boxers, then slipped inside the bed. I got in bed beside him but kept my distance, the last thing I wanted was being suffocated from Andy changing sleeping positions in the middle of the night.

"You feeling alright, Tesla?" Andy asked. "Still feeling crabby?"

"No, not really."

Andy clapped his hands and turned off the ceiling light, leaving the lamp on the nightstand the only light source in the room. "You have any happy moments when you were a pichu, some ancient memories you cherish more than others?"

I said, "Plenty, I recall that my family and I would go into people's homes and raid their gardens and trash cans for food. Classic wild pokémon behavior, my mama's lessons kept me going for a long time but I soon have to get creative when food is not always guaranteed."

"Any moment that you remember best, besides the end?"

I turned to Andy. "Irvin asked me that same question a long time ago. I'll tell you what I told him. My parents would take my siblings and I to a gathering place once a year. Mice pokémon of all evolutionary variants were present. You won't read about any of this in any textbook because it was at a secret location deep within the heart of Viridian Forest, not to mention it is extremely rare to see a mass gathering of all the mice pokémon variants."

"What goes on there, is it a festival?"

"Once in awhile a thunderstorm would roll in, nothing special about them. But when a _severe_ thunderstorm would roll in, all the mice pokémon sects would gather in a ritual. Thinking back at it now, it's just utterly stupid, but it meant a lot to me, my family, and every chu in that forest at the time."

"What's the ritual about?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose and thought for a second. "The story is that when a severe thunderstorm would roll in, there is a chance that a random mouse is shocked by lighting. Legend has it that this particular chu would be granted with powerful electrical abilities and lead all the mice pokémon of the electric element to a bright future of glory. So far that never happened, since all the chus that were struck by lightning were roasted and eaten for dinner the following night."

"Who told you this?"

"My grandmother, just weeks before she died."

I rested my head on the pillow and sighed. "Getting old sucks you know, I had been waiting for death for years. It always tries to come around but it never takes me. I must have underestimated my own abilities."

"You are a legend among my peers at the University of Faraday. Not because of Irvin, but your old age and special electricity."

"A legendary pikachu? There are a mere handful of legendary pikachus in the world and most of them are dead. I don't take pride in my legendary status because it is not who I am. Why do I have to be the one who becomes a mascot for an entire nation? Why do I have to be the one who sits on the shoulder of a Pokémon Master? And can anyone tell me why I don't have an immediate family like everyone else? Isn't this why we're here, to rediscover a missing generation?" I groaned, "I am a victim of circumstance, Andy. This is not the life I wanted to live."

"What life do you want to live?"

I stared at the ceiling for a moment. "I want to have a simple family. Raise the young, tutor my kids. Support them with an occupation that can provide a steady supply of resources. That isn't hard to ask, but actually achieving it is another story."

Andy reached out a hand and scratched my shoulder. I just laid there and let him do it, even though I wasn't in the mood to be groomed. "Irvin had a wife and family, his kids had children, and I had a wife and kids, and you know what happened to all of them?"

"They all fell apart."

"Why?"

"Cause everyone married the wrong woman."

"Yes, that's true in all cases. But the real reason is because our priorities is you and your friends, not our wives. Irvin sacrificed a lot to make sure you and your friends are well fed, bathed, and have a safe spot to sleep at night."

"My mama couldn't swim, but she risked her life to save me from drowning. Now that I can relate to, but that doesn't change the fact that we all felt we were being used to some degree. Maybe that was one of the reasons Nobark had a meltdown in the first place."

"Tesla."

I shot a look at Andy. "You know, I practically initiated your career. Irvin may had sown the seeds but it was up to me to put it together. The main differences between you and Irvin is that your grandfather saved my life and I saved yours. Your father would have given up if he had seen how bad your head was busted, but I didn't lose hope. I saved you not because of circumstances, but because of the same reasons why Irvin saved me. You are one of the few people in the world who had a clue who I really was and deserve a chance in life."

I turned away from Andy. "My birth name is Sparky, my mama named me because of the way my cheeks sparkle. It's all I have left of my old family."

Andy was silent for a moment. "You ever told Irvin?"

"No, I don't trust him having that knowledge. But I did recently told Ray, Bruiser, and Volta about it since we had something in common now: We were displaced and moved to Faraday Island."

Andy scooped me up and held me in his lap. "So your real name is Sparky?"

"Don't make me regret telling you, Andy. I would appreciate it if you don't refer to me by my old me, because that name has no useful value to me anymore."

Andy's fingers traced down the right side of my body stopped over the newly acquired surgical scar. "I heard about your health condition back in Vegas City, if I wasn't so busy being chased by the URP I would have dropped everything and come find you."

"I would really appreciate it if you were there, even though I don't want you to see me in such a state. Volta had a bad experience with that, don't mention about it the next time you see her because she doesn't want to be reminded of the horror she went through."

Andy reached out and turned off the table lamp, the whole room plunge to darkness. "It's great to have you, Tesla. You're an extremely rare pikachu in the world; maybe that is something to be proud of."

"Not right now, but maybe after all this is over, when it is all forever shelved in history. Goodnight, Andy."

"Goodnight."

 **. . .**

I awoke with Andy scratching my back. I found myself face down on the bed, pleasantly warm and such. I stretched out my legs and cooed, then my eyes flickered open. "What time is it?"

"Eight AM," said Andy.

"How long have you've been up?"

"Since six, I was wondering when you would wake up but you just kept right on sleeping."

I sat up and yawned, Andy scooped me up and carried me out of the room. I dozed off on his shoulder as he carried me to the café. There was breakfast food being served there. He sat me down at a table and he went to fetch some food. He got me scrambled chansey eggs and pancakes. I blinked, I knew what I was looking at the moment I saw the scrambled eggs. Chanseys actually lay eggs for human consumption? That was new. It had been a long time since I had tasted chansey eggs, I recalled that I had a big debate with Irvin about it. I picked up the fork and spoon and started eating them. I wasn't really hungry, but my appetite was in order. Andy and I ate in silence. I listened to the background noise around me. This pokémon center feels almost like a hotel.

By the time I was finished, a chansey ran into the room. She had Andy his lab coat in a hurry. _"You have to go!"_ she cried. _"You have to go, now!"_

"What's wrong?" Andy asked.

I said, _"What's going on, Chansey?"_

The chansey looked at me. _"The Kanto Regional Police is at the door asking Nurse Joy questions, they said they were looking for you guys. She sent me to go find you while she stalls them. Quick, go through the backdoor and leave Pewter City while you still can!"_

I turned to Andy. "Interpol is on to us, Andy. We have to leave, now."

The egg pokémon said, _"Follow me, and hurry!"_

Andy got up and pushed his chair in, I climbed up on his shoulder and we followed the chansey toward the back. There was an emergency exit at the far corner, the chansey typed in a code in the number pad and the door opened. _"Go, now!"_

We didn't have time to say goodbye. Andy jogged out the back door and found himself in the alley, he walked toward the street and made his way down. He then looped around and got a good view of the front of the pokémon center. A Kanto police interceptor was parked at the front curb of the pokémon center. It was a newer model, sleeked in the classic black and white paint with the Kanto police logo on the sides. Andy turned around and walked the other way. "I guess we could forget about the rental," he said.

"Yup."

We left Pewter City and made our way down Route 2 to Viridian City. A chill ran down my spine. The road was fairly familiar, but it had changed a lot when I last saw it. Instead of a simple walking path, a two way lane was carved out through the landscape and paved with asphalt. Trees weren't as prevalent as they're used to. I couldn't tell the point where the Pewter City limits end and the outer reaches of Viridian Forest began. I looked up at the sky and began to notice the foliage was starting to block out the sun. For the first time in almost a hundred years I have finally made it back to my old childhood home.

"You remember where your old burrow was?" Andy asked.

"A bit of a hike from Route 2, that's for sure. Last that I recall this forest was rich in life, now it is almost dead. There's supposed to be a hundred insects chirping, now there is only a few."

"If we have time, you wanna go track down that old gathering place you mentioned last night?"

"I'm not sure if it exists anymore, but we can try. But I'm not going to encounter any of the wild chus at this time, I don't belong here anymore."

A few cars passed by every twenty minutes, travelers no doubt. I kept an eye out for any wildlife that might pose a threat. There were a lot of predators that were already a detriment to the mice pokémon, I hadn't come all this way to be somebody's lunch.

"Did you and Irvin ever travel down this road?"

"No, I had him steer clear from it, this road brings back too many memories. Back then there were some homes built out here, I guess things have changed in the past several decades." Then I remembered something, "Oh, Andy. There's one thing you gotta know. The chus out here are wild and they have a great fear of humans. Even though I sit on your shoulder, doesn't mean I am a white flag. They will still run from the sight of you, and if you corner them then they will give you a nasty shock. In fact my parents made it clear for me to stay away from the human settlements, it was tense back then."

I thought back at the pokémon center, wondering if the Nurse Joy was alright. I have never seen cases where the police would come in to pokémon centers and question the Nurse Joys at random. I think it was my fault, I was the one who told her to look up the website. Interpol must have been monitoring the censored websites, the moment Nurse Joy opened the _Faraday News Agency_ website a bot had tagged her IP address and alerted the authorities, which in turn dropped a line to the KRP to check it out. I didn't think they were looking for us at the moment, they were focused on gathering information to track us down. I looked behind us, wondering if we were being followed. I saw nothing but shade and asphalt.

Andy and I came across a clearing, we both stopped for a moment of rest. A part of me didn't want to leave his side, I could feel the pichu inside me frightened from the thought of predators. Of course, I can roast anybody just by looking at them but old habits die hard. I kept a sharp ear out for incoming flying types, I tried to tune down my paranoia but I was a wanted pokémon. The threat of other humans always supersedes the threat of other pokémon. Andy showed no signs of paranoia or distress. He was calm, enjoying himself. At first I wondered how he was so calm, and then I remembered that he was trained for this situation. He was a Faradian, and all Faradians must serve sometime in the National Guard.

Once we were ready to go, I climbed back on Andy's shoulder and we continued down the road toward Viridian City. My internal clock struck midday, the sun was at its highest and the forest was slowly becoming live. I caught sight of a few bug-types wondering around. It put me on edge, even though I know for a fact that some of those bug-types don't normally pray upon pikachus. We kept on going until something appeared up ahead. I squinted, the closer we got, the better I could see the body of a squashed pokémon on the side of the road.

"Lookey here," said Andy. "Road kill."

It was the body of a dead pikachu. I could make out the deep scuff marks of the tire on its back. Its guts had exploded and were strewn out across the road. Bright pink meat and yellow fur were strewn around the corpse like confetti. Andy approached the body and got a good look at the fatal injuries, I held my breath and watched.

"Middle-aged female," he said. "Had been pregnant a few times. Her spine is completely severed and her vital organs were crushed. Her eyes aren't wide open so it wasn't instant death, she bled out for a few minutes before she expired."

I said nothing.

Andy looked up and scanned the road. "She had been dead for only six hours, no telling which car that passed us had killed her."

"Well," I said. "At least there's still chus here."

Andy walked around the corpse and continued on down the road, he got some distance when another car approached ahead. It was a small green pickup with lit headlights. Andy stepped to the side and watched it passed. The truck sped toward the corpse and caught it by the right tire. I watched as the tire crushed the corpse's head, spraying congealed blood and brain matter everywhere. By the time the truck was out of sight, the dead pikachu's head was smeared across two meters.

"Can it get any messier?" Andy asked.

I said, "I don't want to find out."

I later felt nauseous from seeing that, but kept it to myself. I don't want to delay finding my son any more than I have to.

 **. . .**

Viridian Forest gave way to Viridian City an hour later. Hope gripped my heart when I saw the tall skyscrapers of the city. They weren't as advanced as the ones at Faraday City, but they were just as modern. I couldn't wait to find my son, or his last known location. I pressured Andy to go find Trevor Faber's house. He walked around the outskirts of Viridian City and made his way to the suburbs. The houses were small but livable. I scanned all I could, hoping to catch a glimpse of my boy. I wonder if he ever gets out much, maybe he never gets out at all. I had to remind myself that he was just as old as me and might not live another day.

"Here's the house," said Andy. "The Faber Residence."

The house was a modest one-story home. It had a yellow façade and well-trimmed grass. There was some flowers growing by the windows but nothing more. I could tell somebody was home, my hopes run high. I jumped down from Andy and looked up at him. "I gotta do this alone, Andy. I'm grateful you were with me all this way."

"All I've done was pick up where my grandfather left off."

I said, "Stay at the pokémon center for the rest of the day. If I haven't crawled back until midnight, then that means things are alright. We'll regroup at the Pallet Town Pokémon Center, I wanna see if Ash is still around."

"Got it, Tes."

I added, "By the way, if you do made it to Pallet Town. Please don't go wondering around, Ash knows you and he'll know something is up. I don't want you spoiling the surprise so stay hidden and keep out of his line of sight. I'm sure you're clever at disguises."

"Trained at it."

I hugged Andy's legs. "I'll see you soon, old friend. Don't worry about me, I'll be alright."

"Take care, Tesla."

With Andy dismissed, I approached the front door of the house. My heart was racing, I tried to stay calm. I have no idea what Trevor Faber's son or grandson would react to my presence, so I best play it cool and get straight to the point. I stood up on my hind legs and knocked on the door, then I waited.

The door opened and a late fifties or early sixties guy appeared. His eyes were tired, just like Matt. At first he looked around, wondering who was at his door, and then he looked down.

"Uh, hello?" he said.

"Hello," I said. "Is this the Faber residence?"

The old man blinked, surprised that I could talk. "Uh, yes. It is."

"My name is Tesla Westinghouse, I'm just wondering if Wheels is home, or is still with us."

"Wheels," he asked. "My father's old pikachu?"

"Yes, that's him. I understand that your father, Trevor, has passed. I had lost some loved ones of mine recently."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. But how did you know my father, and his pikachu?"

"Long story, so I'll get straight to the point. I'm Wheels's father, I have been looking for him for almost half a century. My late trainer's grandson analyzed my DNA, found a match, and when he pulled up Wheel's profile he also pulled up your father's profile. I only know what I needed to know, so here I am."

I could see the gears turning in Faber's mind, and then something clicked. "Oh now I remember, I used to watch you on TV. Your battles were amazing."

"I hated that job."

His face dropped. "Oh."

I asked, "May I come in?"

Faber nodded, "Sure, come right in. Wheels is on the couch watching TV. Go gentle on him, he's fragile."

"He's not alone on that account, I'll be gentle."

I stepped inside and Faber closed the door. "Wheels, you got a visitor!" He then looked down at me, "I'll let you break the news."

"Thank you, sir." I said.

Faber then walked off to the kitchen. I took a deep breath, then made my way to the living room. A flat screen HDTV was mounted on the back wall. The coffee table was covered with water bottles and fruit. A bottle of aspirin lay on the table, hinting he too have arthritis. By the wall was a shelf filled with race car toys and pictures of race cars on the motorway. So Trevor was really a race car driver afterall. I walked around the couch and climbed up.

There, sat an aging pikachu. His yellow fur was matted with white hair and his body looked ridiculously thin. His eyes were cloudy, hinting developing cataracts. It was when I saw his legs that I gasped.

Strapped to his legs were a pair of braces with a pair of plastic wheels mounted on the bottom. I covered my mouth in horror, Wheels was paralyzed by the waist down.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	23. Chapter 23

_Chapter 23_

Wheels blinked and looked at me, I dropped my hands and just stared back. We had a full minute of awkward silence, then he said, "Oh," he said with human speech. "You look familiar."

The fact that he could speak the human language left me dumbstruck, so I replied also in human speech. "Do I now?"

The gears in Wheels's head were rusty, it took him a moment to realize who I was. "Oh wait, are you Tesla Westinghouse from Faraday Island?"

"Yes, yes I am."

Wheels smiled, for a moment I hoped that he recognized me as his father. But then he said, "I used to watch you on the TV, during your famous battles and such. I used to tune in every Saturday just to watch you live. Then one day I was mortified when they announced your trainer's death on the TV, and you just dropped off the face of the world."

A ping of emotional pain struck me. He doesn't know who I really was, I was getting tired of my reputation preceding me. I wanted a clean slate for once. "I had to go into exile, things were just getting to hot for me."

Wheels said, "I never thought I would ever see you again, I honestly wished I would meet you someday. I never thought you would ever come and see me."

I said nothing.

"What's wrong?"

I got up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll give it to you straight, I didn't come all this way just to meet another fan. The level of experience I had with fans is so great that it has become unbearable." I pointed at the TV. "I always hated that job, hated it so much that I gotten myself half-drunk before some battles."

"Well, that explains why you were wobbling occasionally."

I said, "Wheels, listen to me. What I am about to tell you is true and I wouldn't invest 40 years of my life trying to track you down to tell you about it."

"You were looking for me?"

I placed both hands on his shoulders and said, "Your mother's name is Polly, I'm your father and you are my first born son."

That changed everything, whatever fantasy he had about me crumbled and his world was scrambled. Wheels held out the TV remote and killed the TV, he sat there for a long time, trying to process what he just learned.

"Wheels?"  
My boy broke down in tears, I hugged him and he pressed his face against my shoulder.

 **. . .**

He cried for a long time before asking me to help him take off his leg braces. I had experience in caring for disabled pokémon, taking off his leg braces wasn't so difficult. We sat them on the floor and he rested his head against my side, I scratched his back as he sniffled. "You were looking for me all this time?"

"Your mother actually, but I recently got some help. Things are happening on Faraday Island, the citizens are rebelling against their mainland region and a horde of mice pokémon had invaded by sea. It's hard to explain, but what you need to understand is that all these situations are tied into one story. Those mice pokémon in question are your extended family, descendants of your brothers and sisters."

"How?"

"My trainer signed a contract with a pokémon breeder. You saw my special abilities on the TV, they want my power. The idea was to breed chus until they get another me."

"The TV says you can pump out a million volts."

"Those who know the true scope of my power aren't around anymore. I was that dangerous, so dangerous in fact that was how I gained legendary status. So Irvin and I signed a contract with the pokémon breeder and just days after the signing, I met your mother. We got down to business, and some time passed before she brought you into the world."

"I think I remembered my mother. But what is she like?"

"Loving and delicate, she isn't quite energetic but that's just her style. They also kept her on all sorts of drugs to keep her docile. Then again, she was bred to breed, I don't see why they wouldn't get her cooperation."

Wheels chuckled, "Oh now I remember. When I was a pichu that the pokémon breeders would bring her around to keep me happy, and then I evolved."

My son rubbed his useless legs. They were horribly atrophied and frail, I was surprised they were still attached to his body. "How bad are they?" I asked.

Wheels didn't respond, instead he continued his story. "I was shipped to Kanto, found myself at Pallet Town. The professor there handed me to Trevor as a starter pokémon. We had a lot of fun and adventures together, and when I first saw you on the pokémon center's TV I wanted to be like you."

"That can be arranged, you have a nephew who shares my power. I'm sure you have the genes to pump out a million volts."

Wheels smiled, "Training sessions were hard, but I made it out in one piece. I even competed in the Indigo League, can you believe I actually won first place?"

"I literally broke a lot of bones to make sure I win. But for me it's not about winning, it's about surviving."

Wheels glanced back down at his legs. "I was faced up against a large pokémon, I couldn't remember what he looked like because things happened so fast. But what I do remember is that when I made the charge to bring him down, he scooped me up and smashed me into the concrete. I pumped him with so much electricity that I managed to defeat him, the next thing I know my trainer and I won first place, and then there's nothing put pain."

"You broke your back," I said.

Wheels said, "They numbed me with morphine, I think the doctors wanted to put me down but Trevor fought to make sure I lived. When I came to, I tried kicking my legs but they wouldn't move. Couldn't feel them. But it felt like I was moving their ghosts.

"Phantom limb," I said. "Your nervous system still thinks your legs are still connected to your spinal cord."

My son looked at me. "How did you know that?"

"My trainer did more than train me, and I have all the time in the world. He first taught me how to talk, and then he taught me how to read and write. I quickly caught on what he was trying to do, so I did my best to learn as much as possible. Next thing I was doing is basic math, science, history, and then I advanced from there. Within just ten years I was doing my trainer's taxes, by hand, without a calculator. I even earned my GED from the University of Faraday."

"You are an educated pikachu," said Wheels.

"Highly intelligent," I said. "My IQ is just a hair's away from 200."

"Just why all the education?"

I said, "My trainer wanted me to be independent, he knows he won't have me forever. And he's right."

Faber came walking into the living room, he picked up the bottle of aspirin and shook it. "Empty, looks like I have to buy some more."

"How bad is his arthritis," I asked.

"It's in his elbows, sometimes he couldn't sleep at night because of the pain."

Wheels said, "I sometimes get by, it isn't always unbearable."

Faber turned to me and asked, "How old did you say you were?"

"107."

"How did you live so long?"

"The scientists at Faraday figured out a way to extract old and dormant cells from the body. They hooked me up to a machine, extracted my blood, and injected iron-laced antibodies into it. The antibodies attached themselves to the failing and dead cells and they are pulled out of my bloodstream with a powerful electromagnet, then they pumped the blood back into my system. After that, they injected nanobots into my system, which attacks rogue cells, plaque buildup, and foreign bodies. It dropped my risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and microbial illness to zero. I practically have the body of a thirty year old."

"Damn."

"I managed to get so far without it, it's just a recent edition. It was too late for my trainer though, he died from a heart attack." I sat there for a moment and realized something, "To come to think of it, the scientists have recently cured paraplegia."

Wheels eyes lit up. "They did?"

I said, "All they have to do is implant transmitters up and down your spine. I think they're using fiber optic wires as well as wireless transmission, whatever the method the transmitters would reconnect the two halves of the spinal cord and allow you to walk again."

That gave Wheels hope, he glanced at his legs and said, "So many years lost, this might give me a second chance."

I said, "Even if they reconnected your legs, it would take years to get them functioning again. Your tendons might not even be strong enough to flex your joints, and if those tear apart you would risk getting your legs amputated."

Wheels paused for a moment, then said, "If therapy gets me back up on my feet, it's worth the agony."

Faber said, "I better go into the store and buy more aspirin, or else Wheels won't be able to sleep tonight." He turned to me and asked, "Even though you showed up out of the blue, and I barely even know you personally. I suppose I can trust you, since you are his father."

"I have decades worth of experience in taking care of pokémon, one old pikachu shouldn't be that difficult."

"He might need help going to the bathroom, he has trouble climbing up on the toilet."

I chuckled, "Been there too, I'll manage."

Faber grabbed his house keys and put on his coat, "Okay, I'll see you guys later."

"Bye, Bill," said Wheels.

When he left the house, I asked, "He usually takes you wherever he goes."

"Yes, he usually does. He used to leave me at home, until one day I had to go to the bathroom. Even though there was a booster stool, it's hard to climb up using only my arms. And I have arthritis so it's even worse." Wheels paused for a second, "Actually, no. Bathroom dilemma aren't the worse. I haven't really told anyone this before, because it's quite embarrassing. Would you keep it a secret, Tesla?"

I said, "Wheels, my own mother gave my siblings and I blowjobs every Saturday night and fed us our dead uncle after he was cooked by a transformer line. Your family history is full of incest and cannibalism and I have no shame in stating that fact. Whatever it is, it shouldn't be that embarrassing."

Wheels blinked, trying to comprehend that fact. "Uh, I don't know what to say about that."

"They still do it today, I know because I've caught them in the act. Don't ask me how or why, I just stumbled into it by accident."

"Well then, uhh. I'm not sure if this is common, but ever since I can't feel my legs . . . I can't feel an orgasm."

"You've actually mated before?"

"No no, I never had a date or had sex. In fact I have never saw another female pikachu in person for decades. One night, way before my fateful accident. I woke up suddenly from a dream and I felt really good, and then there was sticky stuff all over the bed sheets."

I said, "You had a wet dream, it sounded like you had your first orgasm in your sleep."

Wheels said, "How do you say it? I feel, like, stoned?"

"Yup."

"Oh what a mess that caused, I was really embarrassed when Trevor realized what had happened. He didn't say anything besides pulling the covers off and changing the bedsheets, then he just went back to bed like nothing even happened. He never mentioned about it to me or to anyone else, something told me he might have forgotten about it."

"He probably been in that situation before."

"I don't know how to put it, I never actually understood the concept of sex but. . ." Wheels looked up at me and asked, "I did ask some pokémon about sex and they didn't give me much information besides orgasms and masturbation. Do you know?"

I guess you could say that was the first time I ever tutored one of my own children, giving them a lecture about _the talk._ It was strange to give Wheels about a brief rundown about sex because he was in his seventies and I was caught off guard. But I told him what he needed to know, "Sex is all about reproducing and making offspring. Without sex, life is impossible. Some lifeforms reproduce asexually, which is making clones of themselves. But for us, we reproduce sexually, which is combining two different strands of DNA to form a unique individual. My parent's explanation is similar, because they didn't know anything about the concept of genetics. What you need to do and how to act is built right in, it didn't take me long to figure out that sex makes babies just by watching my parents actually do the deed. Next thing I know, my siblings were born."

"You grew up in the wild?"

"Born and raised, knew everything I need to know about the basics of life. Where to find food and water, and how to combat and evade predators. Just to let you know, I had my first orgasm when I was merely weeks old, and your mother had her first one when we met. Sadly, around our age our reproductive system tunes down. Even if we reconnect your legs to your spinal cord, your gonads wouldn't be as active as they were when you were young."

Wheels just stared at me with confused eyes, I guess I gave him way too much information. He just rested his back against the couch and sighed, "That's more than what I needed to know, but thank you. These days I just couldn't feel it, don't have that kind of steam anymore."

 **. . .**

We sat there for the rest of the evening. The sun was going down, Faber wasn't back yet. Wheels soon need to use the bathroom. I got down and had him slide onto my back, and then he directed me to the bathroom. "You sure are strong," he said.

"Had to be," I said. "It takes a heavy toll on my well-being, but I can live."

The bathroom had a simple toilet with a specialized toilet seat. It was an electric toilet, equipped with a bidet and butt dryer. A booster stool was placed before the toilet, I climbed up on the stool and sat Wheels on the seat, then helped him get into position. I then stepped out of the bathroom and let him do his business in private. I wasn't sure if he cared about privacy, but I had a feeling that I shouldn't ask. After a moment, I heard the bidet turned on, followed by the butt dryer moments later. I thought for a moment. Faber was like, what? Lower middle class? For all the cheap furniture I saw in the house, he spent a lot of money over a toilet seat, along with paraplegic equipment for his father's pikachu. That told me he was very dedicated to Wheels, and maybe there was more.

When I heard the toilet flush, I went back to the bathroom and retrieved Wheels. He climbed up on my back and I carried him back to the living room. "You ever wanted to go somewhere?" I asked.

"I had thought of traveling, but I can't help myself. I'm vulnerable, even with Faber by my side."

"I can relate to that."

Wheels stared up at the ceiling. "Honestly, Dad. I don't wanna stay here for the rest of my life. I want to get out and not spend my remaining days stuck on the couch. I don't have any friends besides Bill, and I am bored out of my mind."

I could see tears forming in his eyes, I took him by the hand and squeezed it. "How long have you been considering it?"

"Ever since Trevor died, he had an accident on his last race . . . I couldn't get the moment out of my mind."

"My trainer had a heart attack behind the wheel," I said. "I tried resuscitating him, but it was no use."

"Your trainer had other pokémon, Dad?"

I nodded, "Yes, he did. Most of them are dead now, just a handful is left and I have no idea where they all are."

"What about my brothers and sisters, and their children? Do you know them?"

I said, "It's a long story, but I'll give you the quick rundown. Polly and I brought to the world a few dozen pichus, including you. Some of those chus, including you, were transferred to other parts of the world. You managed to find yourself put up for adoption, your brothers and sisters found their way into other pokémon labs where they were used for experiments. A cluster of your siblings were interbred, creating a population of mice that are genetically unfit."

"Why is that?"

"The scientists wanted to create another legendary chu, basically one that can do this." I held up my hands and sprout a purple arch of electricity, the CFL lights flickered for a few seconds until I killed the arch.

"Whoa."

"That's not all I can do." I placed my hand on Wheels's leg and charged it, then made his toes flex. His eyes nearly bulged out of his skull, I pulled my hand away and his leg went dormant.

Wheels said, "Oh that was scary, real scary!"

"You should have seen how I hijacked a grown-ass man's nervous system. Even if those legs are yours are connected to your brain, they will still be under my control."

"Please don't do that! Don't do that again!"

I reached out and poked him in the belly, he squirmed and tried to move away. I chuckled, then continued. "The best the scientist got out of their small group of chus is Rayovac, my grandson. He's no ordinary chu. This creature is a mutant, an abomination. A resulting merger of all three mice pokémon variants to create a rikachu.

"Rickachu?" Wheels asked.

"No, it's pronounced _reek._ Not _rick,_ okay?He stands 122 centimeters tall and weighs 50 kilograms. This big lug is extremely strong, and yet he is very sweet-tempered and loves everybody. He'll hop on you and give you a big hug when you give him the chance."

"And he's just as powerful as you?"

I said, "Wheels, I pumped more electricity into him to kill an entire army of human beings and he got up like nothing even happened. He's that strong and it would be foolish to challenge him. Then again, he's no alpha male so he's not aggressive or anything."

"What about my brothers and sisters?"

I sighed, "I only found one before you. He had a horrible train accident that left him disfigured, missing an eye, a hand, a foot, and parts of his ear and tail. He was one of the oldest of a few dozen pikachus who managed to escape from human activity, and created a pack called the Dixierats. When I first met him, he was horribly depressed and having all sorts of health problems. I don't know how I cured his depression, no pokémon like him can recover from the pain he had endured."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"I simply told him I was his father, and then he melt into my arms like butter."

Wheels asked, "Where he is now, is there a chance I would meet him someday?"

I shook my head, "I'm sorry, Wheels. Your brother is dead."

Wheels's face dropped. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"He died in my arms."

Wheels said nothing.

"I think it was renal failure because he wasn't urinating, and maybe he was constipated. But I can tell you that he didn't die in pain, I held on to him till the bitter end. I can tell that the transition between life and death is so smooth that I couldn't tell the exact point, I only found out he was gone when his body gone cold."

"How did you feel when that happened?"

I stared at the wall. "Just as broken as he was. He was my only link to your mother. The breeders had pulled the contract a longtime ago and took Polly away, I've been looking for her for a long time. I can tell you that one thing I asked where the lab in question was, and so when he told me I left the Dixierats and tried to track her down. I couldn't find her, I was devastated." I took a deep breath and held it. "Wheels, this is a really fucking long story, which is actually multiple stories tied up into one. I don't know where to begin. Do you want to hear it from the beginning, when I was born? Or do you want me to start off with the Dixierats?"

Wheels sat back and said, "I wanna hear the whole thing, I always dreamed of what your life is liked. You were the talk a lot by trainers back in the day."

"They only know the tip of the iceberg. Here, let me explain what really happened."

 **. . .**

I don't know how many times I had told my entire life to people and pokémon alike, I feel like a broken record every time I had to tell it. Wheels listened carefully, letting me know he was paying attention with simple cues and nods. He wasn't as overwhelmed when he initially realized I was his father, but I have to backtrack several times just to explain several segments in a language he can understand. Wheels was not an educated pikachu. He told me he could not read or write, and his understanding of complex vocabulary is null. I was frustrated at first, but calmed down when he started putting things together. Wheels was a bright mouse pokémon, that's for sure.

I finished by the time it got dark. Wheels was getting tired, I also needed sleep. I spent the next few minutes filling in some details when Faber came back from shopping. He had several shopping bags full of groceries. They were plain green, made out of some thick nylon fabric. I watched him carry them over to the kitchen and sort them out, then he returned to the living room. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

"No problems to report," I said.

Faber asked, "Where were you actually born?"

"Viridian Forest, like all other pikachus. Back then things were more simple and diverse, my ancient home has lost much of its diversity since then."

"Do you have any place to be tomorrow?"

"I plan on swinging by to Pallet Town to visit a friend of mind, but I'm not sure if he's still there. He's quite a traveler and he doesn't stay in one place for too long."

Wheels had fallen asleep, too tired to add into the conversation. Faber reached down and picked him up, I watched as he cradled my boy in his arms. "When his trainer died, I don't know what to do with him. I couldn't just give him up, nobody would want to take care of a disabled pikachu. You should've seen his eyes when he begged me to take him in."

"He has his mother's eyes, and her charm."

"Does he have other brothers and sisters?"

"Yes, he does, and they are just as old as he is. Sadly, some of them have passed away. They're not as fortunate as Wheels."

Faber took Wheels to the bedroom and put him to bed, he then returned and asked, "You plan on staying for the night?"

"Yes, it beats sleeping out in the cold. If it's alright with you, I like to take Wheels with me to Pallet Town. Once my business is done here, we could take him to Faraday Island and get his legs restored. I have some family there, along with connections from my late trainer."

Faber thought for a moment. "You're laying a lot down for me here. I had Wheels for a long time, I hate to see him go."

"He does not want to spend the rest of his life in this living room, he needs to be with his own kind. And we're both getting quite old, so we don't have much time to spend."

"Will he be alright?"

I said, "He will be okay for a start, I think I may have found out where his mother went. I think somebody is tracking her down as we speak. I don't know if she's still around, but I missed her so much. It would be great for Wheels to be reunited with both of his parents."

Faber sat down on the couch and said, "I did spend some time researching you on the library. You have quite a track record, in fact I just figured out that you were wanted in Unova for escaping police custody. They said you were associated with a terrorist organization."

I said, "An old friend of mine went mad and tried to recreate the living conditions we used to live in. It would have worked, if his dissociative personality disorder hadn't consumed him."

"What really happened?"

"My friend, Nobark, I'm sure you have heard of the scrafty."

"He was quite a fighter in the pokémon arena."

I said, "He kidnapped some friends of mine and threatened to kill them if I did not do his bidding. He has a whole army at his back, and I was under the crosshairs of the Soho Police Department. I have to do what I have to do, and in the end I was forced to kill him."

"Was it hard?"

I shot a look at him. "He was my best friend and he trusted me, I didn't wanna betray him because that would go against everything my trainer has laid out for his pokémon. He may be dead, but that does not mean our code isn't. I made a mistake in persuading Irvin to spare him, now I have to deal with the consequences of what Nobark caused. These bandages you see here, Nobark shot me with an assault rifle. He doesn't mean it, he wasn't in control. I have to calm him down and give him plenty of leeway to make sure he doesn't die in pain."

I felt tears building in my eyes. I held my head low and said, "I already gave Wheels the brief rundown on what happened, he knows."

"One of the charges says you were accused of assassinating a government official."

"That was true, it was the Chief of Police. Nobark had me kill him because the Chief was a corrupt bastard, but the law is still the law no matter what. After everything was said and done, the URP came in and picked me up and I signed the confession. I sat there waiting to be transferred to a prison or somewhere, and then a riot broke out. I barely escaped with my life."

I got down on my knees and begged. "Please, Faber. I am a victim of circumstance. I have done things I am not proud of and I would take it all back if I could. I was dragged into this life, literally kicking and screaming."

"Oh?"

I said, "My family was poached a long time ago, Team Rocket took me away. My world basically fell apart, I am at my wit's end here! I'm trying to put a family back together but I'm stuck in all this Post-Westinghouse bullshit!"

Faber scratched my back. "You tried to turn yourself in, but that backfired. Is that what I am hearing?"

"It was out of my control, Soho wasn't liked upon by the Unovan community. It wasn't the locals who started the riot, it was people from all over the region, feeding off of the anarchy when the regional government revoked the city's charter."

Faber scooped me up and had me face him. "I don't know what to do with you. I can toss you out right now and be done with it. I did check to see if you are really Wheels's father, sure enough the records at the pokémon database were true. What is your serial number?"

"KVF115." I held up my foot and he inspected the bottom of my sole.

"Yeah, you're telling the truth alright, and that's what makes it hard." Faber lets go of my foot and said, "Wheels will throw a fit if I kick you out, but you're a wanted pokémon. I am quite aware that you coming here has caught the attention of the International Police. Since Wheels is really your son, I'm going to be dragged into this even if you hadn't showed up."

"What do you plan to do? They know for sure that you have nothing to do with what happened at Unvoa, all they're going to do is question if you have seen me at all. They'll know if I had showed up, so it's no use lying to them. And since my friend at Pallet Town is associated with me, they know where to look."

"Will you be gone by the time they show up at my doorstep?"

"Yes, I will. I have the money to get an attorney and I have a shit load of supporters, they're way too overbearing to handle but they're useful. So the only question now, Faber, is what are you going to do?"

Faber thought for a moment. "I'll see what I can do."

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	24. Chapter 24

_Chapter 24_

I wound up sleeping on the couch. The house was cold at night, even with the blanket Faber provided me I was still freezing my tail off. When I did managed to fall asleep, I had another flashback. I don't get night terrors, or at least I wasn't aware of them, but I think this one counts. I don't remember much of the details, all I know I had Irvin's death in mind, and Flashlight's, and Nobark's grizzly end. For a moment I felt so alone that I found myself crying. Why wouldn't I? I am a pikachu, a social creature. I needed somebody to hold me.

I woke up that morning with barely any memory of that night terror. I didn't feel like getting off the couch, it was way too comfortable for me to sit up. I forced myself up and slid off the couch, then stretched my legs. I took a deep breath, sighed, and then tried to remember where I was. Wheels came into the living room on his leg braces, reminding me what I was really dealing with. When Wheels approached, the adoring fan look in his eyes had long since faded. Replaced with concern and doubt. I wondered to myself if it was a big mistake in explaining my entire life to Wheels in one sitting. I got so carried away with the fact that I found another lost child that I had forgotten the possibility that he might reject me for my past wrongdoings. I braced myself for that moment, actually praying to Ho-Oh that it would never come. Instead of rejection, he crawled up to me, without saying a word, and gave me a big hug. "Dad," he said. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Wheels."

"I heard Faber lecturing you about you're passed. I swear on my life that I didn't say a word to him about it, I pretended to be asleep when he came back into the bedroom to dress for bed." Wheels looked back toward the bedroom. "He's in the shower right now, I have to take this opportunity to get this off my chest. Please, Dad. Is there anything more you could do for me? Like taking me to Faraday Island to fix my legs?"

I said, "Legally speaking, not much. I'm not just going to rip you out of Faber's arms and kidnap you. That man and his father had so much history with you, it would be one of the worst things I could possibly do. I'm not going to pressure him any further than I have to, the choice is up to you if you want to come with me or not."

"I don't know, Dad."

I lifted up Wheels's chin. "Look at me, Wheels. I didn't have any choice in deciding my own fate and I still don't, but you do. You're a clean slate, a free pikachu with no reputation, giving anybody no reason to bother you. I don't have that privilege, son. But you do. Faber is going to kick me out, and when he asks me to leave I'm not going to argue with him. I'll be at Pallet Town to visit a friend of mine. If you wanna follow me, go ahead, but if you can't find me at Pallet Town you can find me at Faraday Island."

"Where on Faraday Island?"

"Is it alright if I write down my trainer's address?"

Wheels shook his head. "I can't read, Dad."

I told him Irvin's address, repeated it a few times. He seemed to get that thought locked down. "Okay, I think I got it."

The drone of the shower died and I heard the thud of the shower door opening. I said, "I know you're old and it may be too much for you to handle, but are you willing to risk everything to follow me by my side?"

"I don't know, I hadn't traveled in forty years."

"Can you force yourself to do it?"

Wheels said nothing, I gave him a hug and cradled his head. "Don't worry, son. I'm sure you can think of something."

 **. . .**

Faber came into the room looking quite weary. I wonder if he had any sleep last night, because he wasn't as alert as yesterday. He found Wheels and I on the couch, watching the morning edition of the Kanto News Network. "I'm going to make breakfast," he said. "You want anything to eat, Tesla?"

"French toast, with orange juice."

I think he was expecting me to ask for pokémon food, because he gave me that look everybody gives me when I ask for something other than pokémon food. But he wasn't as surprised. Why would he? He had experience in handling an elderly pikachu and I was much older than Wheels. Faber went toward the kitchen without asking Wheels anything, he knew what to get him.

Minutes later, I heard Faber frying something on the stove. Didn't sound like French toast, I asked Wheels what he usually eats for breakfast. "Fried rice," he said. "I have problems digesting things and my bowels often don't cooperate."

"I hear yeah."

Wheels said, "You have digestive problems too?"

"The only problems I have is holding it all in until I find a place to shit. Sometimes I would get queasy in the middle of the night and have to purge out my system, but nothing long-term."

Faber announced the food was ready and we both went over to the kitchen. The kitchen table was low and round and the chairs were high, which was well suited for a pokémon my size. I climbed up on one of the chairs as Faber helped Wheels up on another. The table was bare save for the breakfast food. Faber cooked me the French toast and orange juice as requested. Just two slices, which looked quite thick and plush. I wasn't really that hungry so I didn't complain. I glanced at Wheels, he was already chowing down on a plate of fried rice. He didn't used a fork or spoon, he simply propped himself over and licked the rice right off the plate while using his butt to support himself on the chair. Faber just sat down, he had fixed himself some oatmeal and French toast. I tried not to stare and started biting into my French toast, it tasted better than the restaurant-made crap.

"How long were you in Kanto before you were picked up by Team Rocket?" Faber asked.

"A little over twenty years," I said. "I spent most of that time as a pichu. I was quite young, very bright, and was like all the other pichus: Free without a single care or worry in the world. That was quite a pleasant childhood, since I didn't have a bullshit detector back then."

"You grew up around Viridian Forest?"

"Yes, it's kind of a hike from Route 2 deep within pikachu territory. There were a lot of mice pokémon back then, and plenty of life. I had to cross over through Route 2 just to get here, and I can tell you from my experience that Viridian Forest is less abundant now than a hundred years ago."

"Viridian Forest still has a heavy pokémon population, you can't even see the sun when out into the forest."

"Back then Route 2 was a walking trail, not an asphalt road. I have no problems seeing the sky from the road and I don't hear much life. Not to mention the forest used to stretch from Pewter City to Viridian City, literally touching. Now there's grass fields where ancient oaks once grew."

"Does your family and the pack you're associated with have a culture, a religion per se?"

I said, "We do have stories of legendary pokémon and your usual Arceus theology. I can tell you that the pokémon version greatly differs from that of the human ones. Our stories are told from word to mouth since the beginning of time while humans have written it all down on paper and stone. As for religion, we do have an animist-like faith based around Arceus but we don't use religion to govern our lives. We just follow common sense, which is somewhat lacking."

"No cultural gatherings and such?"

"Don't get me started on them, because they don't always work out."

I didn't gave Faber the lecture as I had done for Wheels, I wasn't in the mood to talk about my history. But I was old, and old age should bring wisdom. So I kept it simple. "Once in awhile we had our gatherings. Mice pokémon would cluster around each other in our usual group packs. I heard a lot of conversations, and I can tell you that the subject would change a thousand times before the day is out. Usually once every two to five minutes. In the end it's all just noise."

Wheels asked, "What about your days with Irvin Westinghouse, what are they like?"

"Most of the time it's just noise. I mean, I would sit there in front of the TV and all sorts of things would happen around me. His house smells horrid from all the pokémon, and they were constantly running in and out of the place. On some days everyone would lay around and sleep, but as for me I just read a book and put together my education."

Faber said, "A far cry from what I used to watch on TV."

"Not everything you watch TV is accurate, your best bet are the textbooks."

We ate breakfast in silence for the next few minutes. I thought about taking Wheels with me to Pallet Town to get him acquainted with Ash, maybe with Andy if he had stuck around as promised. I wondered about Faber researching me at the library. I had no doubt the regional police would pick up on that. I already have a trail well-established, I wonder if the KRP is waiting for me at Pallet Town with Interpol backing their rear.

By the time we finished breakfast, the videophone started to ring. Faber got up and answered it. "Hello. . ? Speaking . . . What is this about . . ?" I glanced at Wheels, he wasn't so sure about this phone call. He looked kind of worried, I'm guessing this house didn't get much phone calls that often. And for all the phone calls that did come around, they were often associated with bad news. Judging by Faber's tone of voice, this may be one of them. I watched him as he shifted his weight on one foot to the other. He glanced at me for a second, then returned his attention to the screen. "My pikachu? I inherited him from my father . . . I see, what is this have to do with- . . . Yes, I understand, sir."

He slammed the receiver hard on the cradle and shot a look at me, his blood boiling. "Get out, get out now!"

A chill went up my spine, I didn't need to be told who was on the phone. I didn't argue, didn't beg. So when he opened the door I jumped to my feet and ran right out the door. "Dad!" I heard Wheels cry behind me. "Dad, wait!"

Faber slammed the door shut, nearly clipping my tail. I ran down the sidewalk as fast as I could. I didn't look back, not even for a quick glance. I was out of Viridian City in minutes.

 **. . .**

I diverted off of Route 1 and ran as deep into the wilderness as best I could. When I felt I was out of sight from the main road, I slowed down to catch my breath. I felt unsteady, emotional. I had no idea if I would ever see my son again, or will he try to follow me. He was now under Interpol's radar, I have no doubt they would come for him but I felt they wouldn't do too much harm. They just want me, my son is innocent in this. I had told him where I was going, maybe he would try to follow me despite his handicap. The thought of Interpol interrogating him for information gripped my mind. If Wheels were able to hide his ability to communicate with people, then he would be in the clear. If not, then I was running out of time. I better regrouped with Andy at Pallet Town, hopefully he hadn't interacted with Ash yet.

I went south, keeping the road to my right. I kept a steady pace, neither speeding up nor slowing down. I tried my best to keep my heartrate down, but stress, old age, and the denial of love kept me on edge. I wondered if I had made a mistake in coming over here. It was probably stupid of me to abandon my friends and relatives on Faraday Island. I should have stayed, I shouldn't have attempted this journey in the first place. I couldn't take back that action, my course was set. I had already met my son, there was only one more thing left to do. Get to Pallet Town and regroup with Andy and abort the plan on finding Ash.

The sun was burning bright, I took a moment to rest underneath the shade. The sound of nature in Kanto's wilderness felt foreign. It sounded nothing like the world of my childhood. It sounded weak and suppressed, like it was being choked to death. I felt that Kanto had lost all enthusiasm to keep on living.

Maybe that was just me exaggerating things. I am a member of a long forgotten generation, today's kids are living in an environment that is way different from the world of their ancestors. Pikachus like me are finding their ways into civilization, living among humans, in their homes and with their families. They had forgotten the skills and lessons taught by their parents and ancestors. I wondered to myself if anything was outdated about what my mama told me, like finding food and such. The skills and training I learned from Irvin were thorough and researched by professionals, educated people. My parents were uneducated, a thought came to mind if they had ever considered my own point-of-view and not theirs.

I stashed that thought in the back of my mind, I will go back to it some other time. Right now, I have a task to do and I was burning daylight.

I got and started hiking on my two back legs. I checked to see if I was going the right way, then I kept on walking. I walked for some time until I came across something interesting. I squint my eyes, up ahead was an apple orchard. A few young apple trees cluster around a larger one. I'm guessing the larger one was the mother tree. I could see it was wilting, bearing little fruit. The youngsters though were blossoming with ridiculously large apples. They were fresh, ripe.

And there were pichus crawling all over them.

Seeing all those pichus warmed my heart, but I still feel like I don't belong here. They probably knew a lot of mice pokémon from several close family packs. If my memory is correct, we knew all sorts of mice pokémon from our own ranks. They are going to look at me and wonder two things: Did I come from captivity? Where was I really from? I had some arguments ready, but I felt they might not understand. I went back to my pichu roots and considered my options.

So far the pichus were happily munching on the apples, a few were even sleeping on the trees or at the bases of several trees. I didn't see any signs of stress or paranoia. I didn't even see any of them on lookout duty. Predators are not a problem to them. I suppose I could walk right in and pick a few apples without any problems. But is the orchard public property to the mice pokémon, or is it owned by someone? I took a deep breath and held it, I decided to keep it safe and stay out of their way, try not to let them know I had been here.

I crept around the orchard to where I believed was a blind spot, then made my approach to the closest apple tree. I may be old but I have no problems climbing a five meter tall apple tree, but I couldn't ignore the strain I was putting on my system. I had to catch my breath when I made it onto one of the branches, then I scanned them for a good apple. I found one, a perfect red apple with no blemishes. Looks ripe enough. I reached up and plucked it from its mother tree, then bit into it. It was sour, tart, and yet at the same time, it was sweet. Behold, a classic pikachu fruit. I hadn't had an apple for so long that the pichu inside me stirred. I had to resist the thought of cooking it with thundershock though, I'm a stranger intruding on somebody's stomping grounds.

Then again, I don't think the pichus would care one bit. They might welcome me with open arms, but I was in no talking mood to socialize. I finished the apple and plucked another good size fruit off the tree, then I climbed down and made my way to the edge of the orchard where I enjoyed that apple with a little more privacy.

I turned my attention back at the pichus and watched them play. They were popping in and out of the branches, playing tag and hide-and-seek. A deep ancient memory simmered to the top of my mind. This was how my own pichu days go. I would play with my brothers and sisters, sometimes with my cousins and non-family pichus. I used to play the same kind of games those pichus are playing right now. I spotted one of them running around the trees, chasing one of his fellow chus. It tackled the other and they tossed themselves around, giggling to their heart's content. I smiled, at least some things in old Kanto hadn't changed.

 _"Lil'In,"_ I heard a pikachu cried in the distance. _"Lil'In, where are you?!"_

One of the pichus stood up and said to its friends. _"That's my mama, I gotta go, guys!"_

 _"See you later,"_ said its buddies.

The pichus kept on playing as this one pichu ran toward the voice. Curiosity struck me, I dashed around the rim of the orchard and spotted that pichu. I hid myself in the bushes and crouched, then watched as a pikachu emerged out of the forest. The tip of the tail was heart-shaped, female. She looked young, much like my own mama. She stumbled in with opened arms as the pichu ran up to her. _"Mama!"_

 _"Lil'In!"_ The mama pikachu hugged her youngin with their hearts content.

I felt tears building up in my eyes. I remembered those days when I gave hugs like that to my own mama after a period of play. The adrenaline rush, plus her love made my day every time. I sniffled, I wish I hadn't seen it.

The mama pikachu said, _"Come on, Lil'In! Let's go to the river and get washed up, then we'll head back to the pack."_

 _"Alright, Mama!"_ said Lil'In.

Lil'In, now that's a name suited for a pichu. I watched them turn toward the forest and began their walk, I proceeded to follow them.

 **. . .**

The pichu rode on its mother's back for much of the journey. I stayed as far away from them as much as I could, but close enough to where I can see them. They were talking about local events, nothing regional or international. Just normal pokémon problems and events. Their culture sounded nothing like the one I used to live in, but it was so similar that it feels . . . familiar, somehow. I didn't know why I was even following them, maybe because I hadn't seen a normal pure-blooded pikachu family in decades. These were real chus, nothing like the Dixie inbred dumbshits. I listened to their conversations, listening to their words. Just hearing their voice caught the attention of my inner pichu. Overall, I just wanted a break from the drama of my post-Westinghouse life and step back, even for a brief moment, into the world of my childhood. For a moment, I felt normal again.

I followed them right up to the river, then found a spot to discreetly watch them. The river was moving a little fast and rough. I remembered that this was the very river where I nearly drowned one day and my mama managed to resuscitate me. I felt that ghost is resting in peace, so I wasn't bothered from revisiting the very river that nearly killed me.

The pikachu and pichu approached the river and sat at its edge. The pichu carelessly dunk its head into the river to get a gulp of water. The pikachu pulled her child back, saying, _"Don't do that, you'll slip and fall in!"_

 _"Sorry, Mama!"_ said the pichu.

To come to think of it, I think that was how I got sucked into the currents. I slipped and fell in, and my own mama never gave me any warnings on never getting to close.

I sat there and watched the mother and child wash and groom themselves. Guided by basic pikachu instincts and social needs, they knew where the sweet spots are and the places where dirt usually collect. The mama pikachu was very intense in her work, picking through each individual hair on the back of the pichu's head. I couldn't remember the last time I was groomed in such a way. I had found out in my Westinghouse days that the comb was quite an effective grooming tool. A pair of fingers, no matter how small, cannot get all of those loose hair and dandruff from fur. Regardless, no matter how much I liked the comb, the finger method felt more personal and precise. It was what I grew up with, what I'm more used to.

The mother and child stayed there for a long time. My gut was sore from being prone, so I sat up and leaned against the tree. They continued talking as normal, nothing interesting happened.

For whatever reason, a goldeen suddenly popped out of the river and arched through the air. The pichu lit up, the mama pikachu was amazed. I blinked, seeing the goldfish pokémon fly through the air like that was a rare sight. I could barely recall a few ancestors of mine who had said to have seen them. Then a second one appeared, then a third. Before I knew it, there was a school of goldeen jumping along with the river, heading toward the sea. _"Look, mama,"_ Lil'In cried as it pointed toward the flying fish. _"Look at all those goldeen!"_

 _"Wow!"_

They jumped along down the river for a few seconds, the constant sound of splashing and whooshing reminded me of rain. I only wished my own mama were to saw this in her lifetime.

The pichu got a little too close to the edge of the river. It stuck out its arms, like it was trying to reach out and catch the goldeens. Before its mama could pull her child back, one goldeen shot out of the river a little close to the chus. It landed just in front of the pichu, splashing it with water. My eyes went big when I saw the pichu losing its balance and falling into the river, screaming.

 _"Lil'In!"_ the mama pikachu cried. _"My baby!"_

I swear the terror I saw in her eyes were so heartbreaking that it could pacify an entire army. I just couldn't sit there, I leaped to my feet and charged toward the river. Then I jumped.

I was quickly engulfed by the river and was sucked into its currents. Under ordinary circumstances I would've panicked much like the pichu, since I was afraid of the water. But this time, I gave the ghost a hard shove because I need its help. Thanks to my goggles, my vision remained clear. The river was violent, full of rocks along with garbage and other forgotten relics. I stuck my head out of the water momentarily and took a deep breath. I caught sight of the pichu just downstream. It was struggling, screaming for help. I kicked my arms and legs and used my tail as a rudder to steer myself through the currents. It was dragging me down, and the freezing cold of the water was sapping my energy. The pichu went under, clawing at the surface in a desperate attempt to stay afloat. I barreled over stones and boulders of the river bed, I got grabbed by a rouge current, it tossed me around twice before slamming me against a submerged boulder. I didn't feel any pain, just stunned. I shook it off and swam up to the surface, gulp a breath of fresh air, then continue swimming for the pichu.

It stopped struggling against the current, its mouth was locked open. Not a good sign. I hurled over a rock, place my feet against it, then lunge forward. I caught the current at the right time and it launched me forward, I grabbed the pichu with one arm then jumped up toward the surface. I got my head above water and spotted an overhanging branch, I dashed and kicked and managed to catch the branch. I used whatever strength I had left and pulled toward the shore with my remaining strength, I could feel my tendons ripping themselves apart against the force of the current.

I flopped onto dry land, but I wasn't done. I laid down the pichu on its back, then checked its vital signs. It wasn't breathing, I opened its mouth and breathed air into its lungs. After a few breaths the pichu coughed up water. I backed up, giving it some room to catch its breath. The pichu sat up and spat out water, it climbed on all fours and struggle to clear out its lungs. After a few minutes, the pichu wheezed, then collapsed on its side. I took a deep breath and relaxed, my aquaphobic ghost went back to sleep. I rested my back against a tree and waited for the mama pikachu to show up.

 **. . .**

We didn't get that far down the river, the mama pikachu rejoined us within minutes. I was half-asleep when I saw her jump out of the bushes and rushed to her pichu's aid. _"Lil'In!"_ she screamed, her eyes flowing with tears as she propped up her child's head. _"Lil'In, please be okay!"_

The tiny mouse pokémon opened its eyes. _"Mama, what happened?"_

 _"Someone…"_ her voice trailed off as she glanced at me. I was in no better condition than her son. I slumped onto my side and she rushed to me. She saw I was weak, she was just about to get into a position to cast a thunderbolt when I grabbed her hand.

 _"No,"_ I said. _"Don't waste your energy, your son needs it more."_

She helped me up onto my feet and gave me a big hug, then broke down into tears. _"Thank you, sir! Thank you for saving my baby! I was scared, I couldn't jump after him because I can't swim!"_

 _"Neither do I,"_ I said.

The mama pikachu gave me a confused look. _"But you jumped in and pulled him out of the water."_

 _"The river sucked me in when I was your pichu's age, I survived. It's not going to scare me twice."_

She stared at me for a few seconds, then glanced at my side. _"You're bleeding."_

I pressed my hand against my side and felt blood, I looked down and saw a pretty bad scrape around the side. Not deep enough to be an initial concern, but something I gotta take care of. _"Don't worry, I'm used to the abuse."_

The mama pikachu returned to her young and scooped it up. _"For a moment there, I thought I lost him. He would've drowned and get eaten by predators, while I can do nothing but watch."_

The pikachu pressed her head against her pichu's head. I walked up to her and checked the pichu. _"His heartrate is slow and his body temperature is low, you need to get him home."_

The mama pikachu said, _"I know I'm asking you too much, but can you please help me get home. The birds are hungrier than usual, I have to risk my life to make sure my Lil'In gets fed and spends time with his friends."_

 _"Are predators usually a problem?"_

 _"No, but they always keep me on my toes."_ The mama pikachu looked at me with bright glistening marble eyes, saying, _"Please, this is too much for me! I don't have much friends and my mate has been missing for weeks! Can you help me?"_

I thought about Interpol, Ash, and my friends and family. The bullshit going around them all was a burden, it wouldn't hurt to divert course for a while. Besides, I have plenty of time. Andy would never abandon me, and if we were to get separated, we will always regroup back at Faraday Island. I said, _"I need a break from my own problem, I'll be sure to get you guys home."_

The mama pikachu gave me another big hug. _"Oh thank you, sir! My nest is not that far, it's this way!"_

The mama pikachu cradled her pikachu and led me toward her bunker. I kept my ears peeled for potential threats. Whether they are predatory birds or humans, I was ready for them. The pikachu kept her eyes open the whole time, clutching her unconscious child in a feeble attempt to shield it from the harsh world. More memories unearthed in my mind, my own mama initially kept me close to her during family outings. It took a while for her to realize we could take care of ourselves, but she always knew I would never leave her with my own free will. This mother pikachu shared much of the same characteristics as my own mama: Paranoid, overprotective, and loving. I don't think this mama pikachu would ever trust me around her child if I hadn't saved him. She was taking a great risk in putting her life in my hands, I seen enough bad moments where aggressive pikachus, more specifically raichus, would pounce on these poor unsuspecting mice pokémon. I think the cruelest thing in the world is to attack the very creatures who keep our numbers up, it is a crime against nature.

I took a deep breath, it wouldn't hurt to try to strike conversation with her. This would keep her paranoia down, maybe even relax a little.

I asked, _"So how long have you been living around here?"_

The mama pikachu shrugged, _"Oh, about a few years now. We came up north from Viridian Forest, looking for new places to live. You said you are from here?"_

 _"Born and raised, but I haven't been around here for years, decades even."_

 _"What happened?"_

I said, _"Horrible things happen. I was barely a few weeks after I evolved from a pichu when my family got poached. I was separated from my own mother and was caged. I never recovered."_

 _"Your family is gone?"_

 _"Yeah, they're gone. It's just me and my own private branch. I was just got done visiting my elder son, his experience with humans were a lot better than mine. He was spared the hardships, now I wonder if he could stand to live another day."_

The mama pikachu asked, _"How old is he?"_

 _"He's in his seventies."_

 _"That old?"_

 _"Yeah, pretty old. And so am I. This region of ours is not my home anymore. I'm from another time, if I had any family left here I am probably forgotten."_

The mama pikachu asked, _"You have experience with pichus?"_

 _"We all have experience with pichus, we both were once pichus, right?"_

 _"I guess so."_

I said, _"I had a lot of children, but most of them were born within the breeding program. Pokémon breeders liked the traits I have, which is quite excellent for pokémon battling. I had a mate, once. I loved her as much as I had loved my own mama. Sad truth is, I never got the chance to raise any of our offspring. The breeding bureaucracy took them all away, I never even got the chance to meet any of them until a few escaped the system."_

 _"They're all pretty old?"_

 _"One of my children passed away days ago, he was brutally mutilated from a train accident many years back and had spent much of his adult life suffering in loneliness. I met him just in time, his system started shutting down and I spent the rest of his remaining hours by his side. He practically died in my arms."_

 _"I'm sorry."_

I said, _"That's alright, there isn't any more I could do for them now. I got lucky and found out my first born son was under the care of his late trainer's son. I tracked him down and introduced myself. He was faring a lot better than his brother, but his legs were paralyzed from a pokémon battle. I don't know how he went on living. His late brother had a lot of elbow room, but he was stuck in the couch and is constantly dependent on someone to take care of his needs. It's sad to help him use the bathroom, he wouldn't survive a week in the wilderness on his own."_

 _"How is he doing now?"_

 _"Fine, I think. I had to leave in the hurry though, his caretaker didn't want me in his house because of my reputation with humanity, which is more dramatic than it should've been."_

The mama pikachu led me to a patchwork of small hills and clearings. I knew the layout well. To the human eye, it's just a bunch of trenches and hills that are held together by trees. But to a mouse pokémon, multiple nests dot the sight. I had lived in these homes myself, they kept me warm and dry for my childhood. The mama pikachu guided me through the patchwork. There were other mice pokémon around, minding their own business. None of them seemed interested in me, whatever they had in mind was deemed more important.

 _"How many mice are there?"_ I asked.

 _"Oh, about seven pikachus and twelve pichus. We had a raichu or two once, but they moved on to other places."_

If my memory is correct, the design of a pikachu nest hadn't changed. Mice dens back at Dixie were crude and dug too deep into the ground. Not something you wanna sleep in consider if it rains, and that is no fun. The mama pikachu passed multiple burrows before stopping at one of them. _"Here it is,"_ she said. _"Home, sweet, home."_

The mama pikachu pulled aside some shrubs and stepped into her burrow. I followed behind her. The den was smaller than I had remembered them, but then again, this was for a single mother with a child. If she was planning more children, she would have dug out more space for the kids to sleep in. I didn't complain, I was raised in confined spaces.

 _"Keeps you warm in the winter months?"_ I asked.

 _"Always,"_ said the mama pikachu.

The mouse pokémon placed her pichu on some makeshift bedding, Lil'In stirred and changed sleeping positions. I sat down by the door, getting as far away from them as I could. The mama pikachu stroke her child's back, I could hear the tiny mouse pokémon purr in response. _"Ain't he so precious?"_

I said, _"Pichus are so cute when they sleep, he should be alright by tomorrow."_

The mama pikachu sat back and turned to me. _"You were in captivity?"_

 _"Used to be,"_ I said. _"These days I live among humans, you can get away with a lot of things if you get cute on them."_

 _"Like what?"_

 _"Begging for food, I hadn't had one human resist me yet."_

The mama pikachu asked, _"What's your style when begging?"_

I took off my eye-goggles and bulged out my eyes so they glisten with mercy. The mama pikachu couldn't help but laugh, I merely chuckled and slipped my goggles back on. _"Sometimes a few tears and whines would get them going, but they never resist."_

 **. . .**

The mama pikachu and I converse for hours. I was running out of things to talk about. I could tell she knew there was something more about me. My goggles, for instance. She asked why I wear those things. I told her they correct my vision. When she asked why, I told her that nearsightedness runs in the family. My dad and his mama had it, I could remember them squinting their eyes when they tried to look at me. My dad's case wasn't so bad, but his mama was another story, as she could no longer see the individual hairs of her own fur. _"I was lucky enough to have my eye-goggles,"_ I said. _"I wouldn't be able to navigate the world without them."_

The mama pikachu asked, _"So the world is just a blur to you without them?"_

 _"Yeah, it's that bad."_

The pichu stirred again, this time he sat up and yawned. He was still tired, but he didn't seem too happy. _"Mama, I'm hungry."_

The mama pikachu turned to me. _"Can you come with me to our foraging grounds? Predators like to pick us off one by one, can you handle a fight?"_

 _"I have seventy years of experience in Pokémon Battling, this should be a walk in the park."_

 _"Okay, I hope things don't get too bad."_

Lil'In hopped on his mother's back and climbed out of the den. I followed her outside where she led the way to the foraging grounds. _"It shouldn't be far, it's within sight of the river but we're not going anywhere near it."_

 _"Okay,"_ I said.

The pichu gave me a curious look, then glanced at my bandages. _"Mama, who is he?"_

 _"A traveler,"_ she said. _"He's been around for a long time."_

 _"A long time? Like, how long?"_

I said, _"A century."_

 _"Whoa, that's long!"_

 _"Tell me about it."_

The mama pikachu asked, _"Have you been to the cities?"_

 _"Yeah, many of them. I just recently left Viridian City this morning."_

 _"What are they like? Me and Lil'In never been to the city."_

I said, _"A lot of concrete and glass. Humans throw out unwanted food and other goodies in trash cans. They're free for the pickings, but it's frowned upon to dig in trash cans."_

 _"How's the food?"_

 _"A lot of textures and flavors, human food really puts meat on the bones."_

It was a bit of a hike, but it was a straight walk toward the foraging grounds. The foraging grounds were a clearing filled with multiple species of berry bushes. Several pikachus were foraging among the bushes, just one chu per bush. The mama pikachu went up to several of the bushes and checked the fruit, I could tell she was looking for a specific berry. _"Aw, it's picked clean!"_

 _"What berry are you looking for?"_ I asked.

 _"Sitrus berries,"_ she said.

Sitrus berries are yellow pear-shaped berries pockmarked with orange spots. They are considered a favorite among chus. I had done some research on sitrus berries and discovered bushes around mice pokémon populations are picked clean the moment they ripen. I checked the bush the mama pikachu inspected. Sure enough, the bush was picked clean of fruit. I could also make out teeth marks on some of the branches, meaning some were bitten off. _"Let's go find another,"_ said the mama pikachu.

We searched a few more sitrus bushes. No dice, they were all picked clean. However, the other berry bushes still had fruit, already ripe enough to be eaten. After a futile search for the rare berries, the mama pikachu groaned, _"They always pick all the sitrus berries, they never leave any for others!"_

I said, _"If you're still not having much luck, you could always go try to scrounge in trash cans at the human settlements."_

The mama pikachu shook her head, _"I'm too tired to make the trip today, and I can't handle any more stress, especially from humans."_

 _"Is the food situation here that desperate?"_

 _"No, haven't heard of anyone fighting over food for years. These days the berry bushes are abundant, so there had to be some sitrus berries left."_

I went up to another clean sitrus berry bush, at first it looked picked clean. Then I noticed some sitrus berries buried within the bush. Looks like the mice had missed a few, there should be enough to satisfy the pikachu and her child's taste for sitrus berries. _"I think I found some,"_ I called out to them.

The mama pikachu crawled up and I handed her a sitrus berry. _"Wow, these are big ones alright! This should be enough!"_

Lil'In jumped down from his mother's back. _"Let me have some!"_

As the pikachu and pichu began picking the berries, I kept a lookout for any threats. I didn't need to look far. Several pikachus were cautiously backing away as a raichu and his gang walked by. The raichu was huge and has a mean attitude. The brute was accompanied by three other pikachus, all of them just as serious. They were making their way toward us. I touched the mama pikachu's shoulder and said, _"Get behind me and keep your mouth shut, we got trouble."_

The mama pikachu didn't need to be told, she looked up and saw the raichu. Her eyes bulged, she grabbed her pichu and moved behind me as the gang confronted us.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	25. Chapter 25

_Chapter 25_

I've heard a lot of stories about raichus and seen how they act. These big mice are powerful fully-evolved pokémon, they are the assault troopers and juggernauts of our species. Pikachus don't just evolve into raichus on their own, they need a thunderstone to do it. Because the evolution cannot be done naturally, the number of raichus in the wild are disproportionately smaller than pichus and pikachus. Despite their rarity, raichus are three times more fertile than their lesser counterparts and can lay multiple pichu eggs in one sitting. They are known more for their power and aggression, not to mention they also glow in the dark when overcharged.

I can only imagine how these raichus live. The psychological impact of mice evolving into a raichu may vary, but it always leads up to three scenarios: One, the raichu's powers will go over its head and it becomes an aggressive shithead, bullying others for intimidation and control. Two, the raichu cannot handle its own powers and becomes depressed, often living as a hermit with a chance of suicide. Three, which the raichu's personality is largely unaffected since it doesn't mind the change. These raichus are few and far between because the third scenario is hard to identify, often mistaken for one and two due to a pre-existing condition.

I had no problems identifying this kind of raichu. He was a number one, which was obvious due to its demeanor and the henchmen that follows it. I had a brother who suffered from such a bully, and recently a grandson who could not handle the stress of his abilities. Sympathy aside, I prepared myself for a fight. I am old, but I am a legendary pikachu. I didn't earn that title by playing nice.

 _"Hey, pissballs,"_ the raichu barked. _"You're in our foraging grounds!"_

I said nothing, I wanted to test the raichu's patience. I wanted to see if he is socially insecure, or maybe having some form of weakness. These kinds of gangs are held together by fear and intimidation, if the raichu shows even a hint of weakness his followers will desert him. So far I saw no sign of any weaknesses, this raichu is as cold as they come.

The raichu shot a look at me. _"Hey, four eyes! I'm talking to you! You're in our berry patch, get out!"_

 _"You're the owner?"_ I asked.

The raichu wrinkled his nose. _"Everybody knows I own this patch. Since you don't know that, I guess you're not from here."_

 _"His scent smells old,"_ said one of his henchmen. _"He also smells human."_

The raichu grinned, _"An old pikachu from human captivity, I knew you weren't from here. Where did you come from?"_

 _"Viridian Forest, a long time ago."_

 _"Where's your trainer?"_

 _"Dead in the grave, now I serve no one."_

This raichu thinks I would be an easy case. I was covered in old wounds and my fur is turning white. I was ready to fall apart, but I'm still tough as nails. He took a moment to judge me, then turned to his henchmen. _"Show this old chu what happens when he trespass in my territory."_

 _"Hey,"_ I said. _"We got kids here with their parents, they'll get caught in the crossfire."_

The raichu didn't listen, he sicced one of his henchmen on me. The rogue pikachu made a charge at me, I flashed a Thunderbolt at his face and knocked him back, the sudden boom of the bolt forced the mama pikachu and her child to run for cover. The other two henchmen took off after them, the third laid on the ground unconscious.

I didn't get this raichu a chance to taunt me or even use Hyper Beam, I charged at him head on. I hit him hard, really hard. The raichu flew back, then tossed me over his head before hitting the ground. I somersaulted and landed on my feet, then turned to face him.

 _"Oh you little pisshead!"_ The raichu charged at me, I timed my jump and leaped when he was right up to me. The mouse pokémon couldn't stop in time as he plowed head first into a sycamore tree, cracking it. Spectating mice saw what is happening and ran out of the berry patch, but stuck around to watch the show.

The mouse pokémon got up on its feet, then turned toward me. _"Oh you're getting it now!"_

He cupped his hands over his chest and formed a bright plasma energy ball, I held up my fist and charged it. The raichu blasted out his Hyper Beam, a very powerful move that can incapacitate lesser mice pokémon. I charged the air in front of me and formed an electric shield, I dug my heels into the earth and took the force of the blow. The raichu was powerful alright, I could feel my joints scream under the strain. When the raichu ceased his Hyper Beam, I held my shield for a brief second before sending it right at him. The raichu took the blow and stumbled back, but held his ground. If I was in a better condition, that should have incapacitated him. I wasn't at my best, and for a moment I thought I might get pummeled. I was relieved, because the raichu was disoriented. He wobbled on his feet for a moment and tried to hold his ground, but I saw I did considerable damage on him. I didn't think he was expecting much resistance.

Now I went on the attack, I charged at him and leaped, I turned my tail to bright steel and swung it around. I hit him square in the jaw, throwing his head up and knocked him on his back, then I proceed to pummel him with everything I could throw at him. Thunderbolt, Energy Ball, even my own bare fists. I was so deep in rage that I couldn't restrain myself. Bones shattered, blood spattered. The raichu had enough and took his one stubby fist and punched me in the gut. What happened after that was fuzzy. I didn't feel any pain, but rather finding myself arching across the berry patch and crashing into an old oak tree. Not enough to crack it, but enough to beat the wind out of me. I fell to the ground and drop to my knees. I was tired, drained, I felt like I couldn't any longer.

The raichu was in no better shape, he was covered in bruises and scrapes. I think I broke a few of his ribs because he was wheezing badly, the raichu spat out blood and looked at me with bloodshot eyes. _"You think you can challenge me, pissball?! I am a raichu! The king among all mice pokémon! Who do you think you are?!"_

I grinned my rotten teeth. "Simple," I said with human words. "The Master of Electricity."

I gave him my _classic_ Thunderbolt, if he hadn't noticed my electricity was purple instead of yellow, he sure as fuck noticed now. The world lit up like an atom bomb for a fraction of a second, deafened with the sound of a sonic boom. The raichu went from zero to a hundred kilometers per hour in a fraction of a second, he smashed against that same old sycamore tree we cracked earlier, this time the tree's spine broke and he went tumbling over the stump. The tree tipped over across the berry patch and landed on the ground with a massive thud. The raichu screamed at the top of his lungs, the sound he made was so horrifying I swear to this day that it didn't sound like a raichu at all.

When the dust settled, I took a deep breath and flexed my muscles, then walked along the fallen tree to see what had become of the raichu. I found him pinned under the tree by the hip. Blood was starting to ooze underneath him. He was struggling to pull himself free. The pikachus who saw the whole thing gathered around the raichu but did nothing to help. I walked up to the fallen tree and slashed it with Iron Tail, I managed to break off part of the trunk, freeing the raichu. I rolled the log off and saw the true scope of the damage. The raichu's tail was smashed, pulverized, and his right hip and leg was flattened. He wasn't paralyzed, since he could still move them, but I don't think he is going to be walking on that leg anytime soon.

Just as the raichu looked up at me, I sucker punched him in his yellow cheek. It flashed yellow and reeked pungent ozone. "This is for my brother, asshole!"

The raichu spat out more blood and rested his head on the ground. _"Oh the agony."_

I kicked the raichu on the shoulder and forced him on his back, the raichu let out another howl as pain shot up from his broken leg. "I have a raichu grandson who has to suffer from stigma because of mice like you! Do you have any idea how much suffering he has to deal with?!"

The raichu wheezed, _"Uh, I dunno. How much?"_

 _"A lot more than what I can do to you."_

I turned to the pikachus and said, "One of you get the Nurse Joy from Pallet Town, bring her here and make sure he gets medical attention, and don't let any of his buddies claim him. Do you hear me?!"

They all just stared at me in horror.

I switched back to pokémon speech. _"I said, do you hear me?!"_

 _"Yes, yes!"_ said a few pikachus. A group of pikachus broke away and made a dash toward Pallet Town, the rest got together in attempt to figure out in the meantime what to do with the raichu. He wasn't going anywhere, now I have to go take care of his goons. I turned around and head toward the direction where I believed they went, then ran as fast as I could go.

 **. . .**

I caught the scent of the mama pikachu, but it was sketchy at best. However, the scent of her pursuers was strong than ever. I navigated the forest, wondering how far they had gotten. I stopped and listened for any signs of moment, nothing. I was getting worried, if they had gotten far I wonder if the mama pikachu was still being pursued. I also wondered if she was separated from her child again.

There's only two high needs that govern pokémon, and that's both food and sex. Males are notoriously known for their higher sex drive than females, and that can cause problems for both genders. Nine out of ten rape cases involve a male dominating a female. I worried that the two brutes would pin the mama pikachu down and proceed to gang-rape her, and I can only imagine what they would do to her pichu. They are at the lowest level of the mice pokémon social ladder, the rates of abuse for them are higher than their evolved counterparts.

I keep going, trying to figure out where they went. I then began hearing screaming, I followed it to the source and saw that the two henchmen had trapped the mama pikachu and her child up in a tree. I got there just in time to see the mama pikachu lose her grip and fall to the ground, the child was horrified to see his mama fall. The henchmen wasted no time, they got into position for their assault. I charged out of the bushes and crashed into one of them before they could lay a hand on her. I was furious, I was more enraged at them than at their leader. The brute I crashed into went flying and toppled across the ground, I quickly land a panzer attack on his buddy. He managed to call up a Thundershock, the yellow flash of electricity struck me. Instead of harming me, it gained me strength. The brute realized what had happened at the last second and tried to brace himself, I crashed into him and pinned him on the ground, then I proceeded to beat the crap out of him.

The first merc I took down had gotten back up and tried to attack me from behind. He landed on my back, I grabbed him by the ears and flipped him over my head. I smashed his back against his buddy's face, he screamed in agony. I kicked him aside and proceed to pummel his friend, I even went as far as sending blows to his gonads just to be sure he wouldn't lay another hand on an innocent female again. For my grand finale, I picked him up and smashed his head against the face of the tree. He dropped lifeless on the ground. His buddy tried to crawl away, but I picked him up and smashed the base of his spine against my knee. He let out one final scream before I smashed his head against the tree, the henchmen dropped to the ground like a rag doll.

I stood over my work for a moment, panting heavily. I almost forgotten why I was here until Lil'In screamed, I turned and saw him lost his grip on the tree. I charged, leaped up and caught him before he hit the ground. He looked at me with big merciful eyes, I swear those were the prettiest eyes I have ever seen from a pichu. I took him back to his mother, where she mustered the strength to sit up. _"Are you okay?"_ I asked.

The mama pikachu blinked, _"Just stunned from the fall is all."_

I handed Lil'In to her, then checked on the henchmen. They weren't moving, I reached for their necks and checked for a pulse.

I found nothing.

 _"Did you take care of that raichu?"_ the mama pikachu asked.

 _"Yeah,"_ I said, still staring at the bodies. _"He's taken care of."_

I returned to the mama pikachu and helped her up on her feet. _"Is anything broken, even sprained?"_

 _"No, nothing's hurt but my pride."_

 _"Here,"_ I said. _"I'll take you guys back home, you went through too much drama for today."_

 **. . .**

We walked back to the burrows in silence. The mama pikachu kept close to me for protection, her pichu walking just by her side. I felt queasy and uncomfortable, my conscience troubled from the raichus and his mercenaries. After just twenty meters of walking on my two feet, I felt my blood rushing down to my legs. I felt light-headed, nauseous. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath.

 _"Are you okay?"_ Lil'In asked.

 _"That raichu took a lot of wind out of me,"_ I said. _"I'm not as spry as I used to be."_

This time I got on all fours, I felt all my weight pivot over my hips. My organs felt so loose inside my gut that they might fall out. My body felt rusty, aging, I felt like I was about to fall apart. I walked the rest of the way on all fours, barely holding my own weight. When we reached the den, I let the mama pikachu and her pichu go first. I got in and just laid back near the door. I closed my eyes to rest for a moment.

The mama pikachu crawled up to me and held up my hand. _"You used up a lot of electricity, I can't sense a charge left."_

I took a deep breath and relaxed. _"Funny how things fall apart. I swear if a building were to be constructed and completed on one day, it's closed and demolished the next. I'm starting to have trouble remembering what year it is, and the months and days are a blur."_

The mama pikachu pressed her ear against my chest. _"Your heart is too slow, it's not beating as fast as it should."_

 _"I meditate."_

The mama pikachu shot a look at me. _"You need to be at a pokémon center."_

 _"And what will the Nurse Joy do? Try her best not to let an old pikachu die in peace? Do you have any idea what I have to go through to get here?"_

I held that thought for a moment, then broke down in tears. I rolled onto my side and covered my face, the mama pikachu came up and asked, _"What's wrong?"_

 _"I am not the child my mama raised anymore. She named me Sparky, but I lived most of my life under the name Tesla Westinghouse. I spent my entire adult life training, studying. The more my knowledge grew about the world and all the subjects contained in the universe, the more I began to realize that my own parents cannot provide the kind of food and security I used to enjoy while living with my trainer. I don't think my mama can even recognize me anymore."_

The mama pikachu said, _"I don't understand."_

I sat up and pointed and stared at her. _"Know this, we've all grew up in holes like this. I pretty much sat there every night in my den, watching my parents create our family before my very eyes. My mama gave birth to half a dozen pikachus and she have to figure out a way to feed us all. I was raised with the knowledge to survive out in the wilderness, but that soon became a secondary priority when I was dumped into the human world."_

I pointed at her child. _"Even with the best of your abilities, you can't secure your child's safety or food and neither can my own parents. I have to realize this the hard way when I was taken away from them by poachers. My trainer was kind enough to give me access to all sorts of knowledge. I spent much of my time indoors, in an air-conditioned environment with clean water and fresh-baked food from a hot oven. I even slept in an actual bed and had access to proper sanitation."_ I raised my hands and balled them into fists. _"I'm lost for words. I don't need any of it. I need family, a social unit. The one I got stuck with is dying children and half-witted descendants. I'm not used to being on top of the pyramid here. I want somebody above me to so I have something to look up to for support, instead I have countless youngsters looking up to me expecting help. I can't save them, can't protect them. I can only do so much for them, they all have to realize they're all on their own."_

I let that thought simmer for a second, then asked the mama pikachu. _"Will you ever be ready for that day when you have to let your pichu go? Because I was sure not ready when my mama had to watch me be taken away. The experience scarred me so deep that I couldn't restrain myself."_

The mama pikachu looked out of the bunker. _"Those pikachus are dead, aren't they? I noticed they weren't breathing, you didn't even try to revive them."_

I said, _"Those pikachus could have shared the food, help their fellow chu, or even jump into the river like I did to save your pichu. But no, rather than being the friendly neighbor, they have a passion to hurt their fellow chu by any means. Your lives will be a lot better if you don't have these pricks living in our world."_

The mama pikachu said nothing, I just laid back down and closed my eyes. _"I risked my health and life in saving your pichu and making sure those pikachus didn't violate you, even though I know there is no reward you can provide for me, I just don't want to live the life I'm living anymore. This world is too cruel. You got legendary bird-brains like Ho-Oh, hoping to return on the day when the entire world would make peace with each other and be nice. But that's not going to happen, because the concepts of good and evil are just ideas. They don't exist. That is why you got bad people believing they are doing the right thing because they have a sound argument to support it. Be it reasonable or not, it's just how the world had always worked and will always work till the end of time."_

I held my breath for a moment. _"I just want somebody to be there for me, you know. Somebody who knew who I really am, and somebody who could see who I once was. I don't even recognize myself anymore, I'm surprised I can even remember my own name. I live a lonely existence here, cause I am the last of my generation. My culture, gone. My life, meaningless. Why? Because they're all under the control of someone else, I felt so angry that I wished that I could do something, and the only thing I can do is steer things to a better direction but not change the final product outright."_

I peeked at the mama pikachu, she just stared at me in confusion. Her pichu couldn't comprehend either, let alone understood the concept of ideas.

 _"You don't even understand what I'm talking about, do you? Well nothing matter now, I'm just too old for this day of age anyway. No one doesn't even know what the world used to be like a hundred years ago."_

The mama pikachu crawled up to me and touched my arm. _"Have you heard of the many stories that went around with mice pokémon in your day?"_

 _"Yeah, plenty of them. But they're quite old."_

 _"Do you know about the story of the legendary pikachu, where lightning comes down from a thunderstorm and strikes a particular chu, and that chu would lead us all?"_

I looked up to her. _"Yes, I heard about that story. I remember all sorts of mice pokémon got together in thunderstorms, begging to be struck by lightning. It didn't end well for them."_

 _"They still gather around in thunderstorms, hoping to be the one."_

 _"You don't get struck by lightning and survive to become a legendary pikachu, you get struck by lightning and survive because you are already a legendary pikachu. Most legendary pikachus are created in a test tube or were bred for that purpose. They're not good leaders for peace, because they haven't grew up in a world of peace, instead they grew up in a world of sterile order that has never been challenged. Before they know it, they're going to try to create a dystopia because all they know was sterile order."_

 _"Where did you heard of this?"_

 _"I didn't hear about it. I've read it, researched it, even seen it. My trainer taught me how to read and write, and that became one of my most invaluable abilities. To get the right legendary pikachu for the job, you're going to need someone who was born and raised in the wild mice pokémon lifestyle. And they are extremely rare to find. On average, there could be one pikachu in every one hundred years. Finding that chu will be impossible, because they wouldn't even recognize that they have such abilities, let alone take the steps to become a leader."_

 _"You've lived how long?"_

 _"One hundred and seven years, thanks to human technology."_

 _"You live for so long, and been everywhere, right?"_

I nodded, _"Yes, I've been everywhere, sort of."_

The mama pikachu asked, _"By chance, did you ever get to meet a legendary pikachu? Did you even track one down?"_

I chuckled, and said in human speech. "Sister, you're looking at one."

I think a lot of possibilities had clicked in her head. She knew there was something about me, and finally it came to her. _"You killed those pikachus with your bare hands, not even using your electricity. But was that you when I heard those thunder strikes?"_

"Yes, those were me. I knocked the raichu back and smashed him against the tree, and that tree landed on his leg and pinned him. I had to use brute force to free him."

The mama pikachu glanced back at her child, then back at me. _"Wow, and you survived all these years?"_

I switched back to pokémon speech. _"It feels that way."_

I stared at the dirt ceiling for a moment. _"To answer your question. Yes, I did meet one legendary pikachu, but he was no candidate to be a leader. This albino pikachu was born in a lab, nicknamed the Z-Pikachu for the Z patterns on his ears, but his real name is Albius Tyler. I did some research on him and found there are multiple clones of Albius, all of them with a different backstory. But I was sure the Albius I met was the original, because of the special interest of bio-medical companies."_

 _"What is he like?"_

 _"Mentally unstable, overconfident, and easily offended when someone challenges him. I do not wish to talk about what happened between us, because it was very bad. But I can tell you we made peace in the end, he even went out of his way to track me down years later just so he could spend a few minutes to chat. How nice of him."_

The mama pikachu asked, _"Where is he now?"_

 _"I have no idea, he just dropped off the map. I think he's living on as a hermit because the people he used to know had passed away, but I got a feeling he's doing okay."_

I let out a yawn and closed my eyes. _"I need to get some sleep, I have to be somewhere tomorrow and I can't stay any longer than I have to."_

The mama pikachu laid down beside me and snuggled up by my side. _"Please stay."_

 _"I have a family who worries about me, I can't stay."_

 _"But will you come visit?"_

 _"Chances are you and your son would've moved on. It's not like I can track you down, you have to come to me if you want to see me again."_

She said nothing more after that. Lil'In crawled up to us and snuggled by my side, and so we slept.

 **. . .**

I woke up in the middle of the night without warning. No real reason for me to wake up, I sensed no predators or any potential threats. I checked up on the mama pikachu and her child. Both were sleeping peacefully, no signs of nightmares. I wondered if the mama pikachu is suffering from post-traumatic stress from her near rape experience. There might be hundreds of pikachus like her who were unfortunate enough to cross paths with warlords and their thugs. I think this mama pikachu was one of a mere handful who had been spared from being assaulted.

I got up and glanced out the burrow. The night was bright under the full moon. I remember my mama always telling me not to go out at night. There were a lot of predators out there who are looking for food, and yellow fur is a spotlight on the black ground. I should've stayed till morning, but my instincts were forcing me to move. I hate to leave the mama pikachu and her child behind without saying goodbye. Another goon might come around and try their luck. Maybe one of the raichu's other buddies were still around. Hunting, waiting. If I were to leave now, the mama pikachu would be defenseless.

So I stepped outside and sat by the entrance of the burrow. The air was cool and fresh, which made it easy on my old lungs. Bug pokémon were chirping in the distance, and I could hear the soft snoring of neighboring pikachus. There was life here, but it felt so alien. How long has it been since I slept in the wild under Kanto's skies? 80 years? 90? It felt like an eternity. I wondered to myself if there were any other old pikachus out there, staring up at the night sky, wondering to themselves if they were the last of their generation?

I sat there for what felt like hours, listening for potential threats. I couldn't force myself to think that I owned this portion of the night. I was prey, not a predator. Sure I can cough up a million volts, but that didn't mean I can keep that voltage going forever. That was an unnatural mutation that sapped my energy reserves. Being a pikachu was no fun, you have to worry about electricity reserves more than food and water. Too much electricity and the chu explodes, too little and the chu is incapacitated. The realization of being a pikachu didn't dawn on me until I was well adjusted under Irvin's care. They say that the truth will set you free, but for me it just raises further questions. Was my species created to be adored by humans, especially children? They have no trouble seeing me, and they would rush up to me and try to hug me to death. I wondered if Irvin ever wanted me to use me in battle in the first place. He was well aware of my own opinions of pokémon battles, and was more than aware about the long-term effects of battles on my health. Sure he has his plan on the Dixierats – which was a bit unbelievable if you ask me – but I wondered if he had ever anticipated me outliving him.

I looked at my hands, or front paws, whatever humanity chooses to call them. I had been cut up, suffered broken bones, had my liver replaced, had my electricity violently discharged and overcharged, contemplated about cutting off my own tail, contemplated about getting my electric glands removed, lost most of my teeth from fights and neglect, spent much of my life with a poor diet, and had felt violated with doctors stapling my bones back together. Life sucks. I would have ended it all long ago, had I not realized that the after-life – if there is an after-life for me – is no different. I'm still holding on to that thought that those ghosts I saw, especially Flashlight's ghost in that attic, was just my own imagination. It's not real, none of my dead friends are real anymore.

So why am I here anyway? Why is my life a mess? Irvin's legacy haunts me, perhaps I should haunt it back. Whatever that means. I stretched my arms and legs, letting out a yawn. I returned to the mama pikachu and her Lil'In, crawled up by their side, then just fell asleep.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	26. Chapter 26

_Chapter 26_

Apparently morning came a little too quick as the mama pikachu shook me awake. I opened my eyes and there she was, her eyes filled with worry. _"Oh, I thought you weren't going to wake up."_

The manners I was taught in the human world said that shaking a person out of bed in the morning was rude. I wasn't mad, but I was tired. And besides, this is the pokémon world, not the human world. When I sat up, the mama pikachu gave me a big hug. Her body pressed up against mine, our noses barely touching. _"Are you okay, Tesla?"_

I blinked. _"Huh?"_

 _"The pikachus were getting up quite early, even my Lil'In had gotten up and gone out to play with his friends! But you just slept on, showing no signs of waking up! I thought you were dead!"_

She pressed her face against my shoulders and sobbed, I patted her on the back. _"Sweetheart, I sleep later than most pikachus. Even my own mama almost had a heart attack about this."_

The mama pikachu took one long sniff of my fur. _"You smell so good and ripe."_

 _"I bathe, compared to most pokémon."_

She looked up at my eyes. _"Please don't go, it gets scary here!"_

 _"I can't argue this. My path's my own, I have to be somewhere. You want me, come find me. But please, don't bar my way."_

I gave her a big hug, cradling her head as she started whimpering. _"I know what it feels to have lost a mate, but I am not your mate, and I am way too old to be your replacement. Besides, my heart is set. I can't give you any honest romantic love even if I tried."_

I let go of her and held her hand. _"Please, let me be. I have to leave."_

 _"How will I find you?"_ she asked.

 _"Use your instincts."_

The equivalent to saying goodbye for wild mice pokémon is for us to shake tails, but instead I kissed her on the cheek. I turned around and started walking, I could feel her eyes burn against my back until I was out of sight.

I left the mice commune and made it back to Route 1. I was feeling optimistic. I started walking toward Pallet Town, hoping for Ash, or Andy, to be there. Again, if I couldn't find either of them, I could go back to the mama pikachu. Maybe I could go back to Viridian City and try to bail my son out of Faber's home. I have plenty of options, and plenty of elbow room to flex my tail. So many fallback plans, but what about returning to Faraday City? Would my personal Dixie pack still be there? Sitting tight, waiting? Did they get my letter, and if so, did they read it?

I kept a sharp eye and ear out on my surroundings, expecting bullshit on every corner. Nothing ruins my day more than some halfwit trainer looking for a challenge. I felt more paranoid than ever. Word about that beat down I did to the raichu and his goons might've gotten around by now. Pokémon who are looking for something to prove and those who felt their power is being threatened may be hunting me. I don't know if Interpol is already at Pallet Town, just sitting there waiting to arrest me. A huge risk. Maybe Ash is put on watch, maybe he is being suspected as a terrorist. Can't see why not, he was associated with a pikachu accused of assassinating a government official and slaughtering half of a Pokémon militia group. Not a good record to have, but there wasn't anything I could do about it right now.

An info sign said I was about a kilometer away from Pallet Town. I recalled that Pallet Town was ridiculously small and primitive back in my day, and it used to be a Team Rocket stronghold. Ash is a nice kid, I suppose Pallet Town had changed a lot since after I was snatched up by poachers. Well, if there was anything to look forward to, the best thing to hope for is the end of this mess. For some reason I didn't care how this would end, I don't make the rules of my own reality.

I trudged on, staying by the side of the road. Hadn't seen any cars or people, no pokémon either. I felt like I had the whole road to myself.

A twig snapped behind me.

I didn't bother looking behind me, I broke into a sprint and made my way down the road. I heard someone swore behind me, a trainer no doubt. Just when I was worrying about halfwits stalking me. "Butterfree," I heard the trainer scream. "Hit him with Silver Wind, don't let him get away!"

A poké ball burst and a butterfree screeched.

"Get him, Growlithe!" I heard the trainer say next.

And just when I was thinking about half-witted trainers.

Growlithe, a dog pokémon. I heard its distinctive howl, a howl I hadn't heard in a long time. I turned around and see the flash of the puppy dog's form materializing. The growlithe burst out of the light and started chasing me, jaw locked open, with teeth ready to bite. No way to outrun a growlithe, those things are built for speed, and speed was a youngin's game. But where I lack in speed, I make up for in power.

The butterfree unleashed its Silver Wind, huge aerobic blades spun toward me. I dodged rolled, the Silver Wind chewed up the ground where I stood. The growlithe gave me a headbutt, knocking me on my back. It was on me in a second. The fucking dog smelled like burnt shit, it was hyped up, ready to bite. I spring-loaded my harm and delivered an electrified punch into the growlithe's lower jaw. It snapped shut, I felt something break. The growlithe yelped and backed off, whining as it retreated back to its trainer. The trainer was a young lad. He was quite bulky, but he meant business. His clothes were colorful and his hair was dyed blue. Typical trainer. When he saw I had seriously injured his growlithe, he held out its poké ball toward him. "Growlithe, return!"

A bright red beam shot the growlithe, dematerialized it into plasma, and sucked it back into the poké ball. "Butterfree," said the trainer as he pulled out another poké ball. "Use Psybeam!"

Psybeam, a purplish beam that packs quite a punch, it also has a chance to make me confused. The butterfree didn't get the chance to use its move, I held out an arm and shock a bolt of purple lightning at the bug. The lightning lit the butterfree up like a Christmas tree before grounding itself into a nearby tree. The boom of lightning was loud, bound to attract attention. I jumped back and watched the butterfree drop to the ground, smoldering like burning rags. The trainer realized his mistake in challenging me. He pocketed the poké ball he was just about to call out and tried to recall his butterfree, but I punched the ground, creating rings of electrified zones around me. The trainer had his feet in two zones, electricity ripped up one leg and grounded down the other. He was on his ass in a flash.

Enraged, I ran up to him, jumped on top of his chest and seized him by the collar. My eyes meeting his. I barked, "Who are you, and who do you work for?!"

The trainer was lost for words, he was expecting to catch me but found himself being caught. I have to admit, it felt really good to be in control of the situation. No longer can humanity challenge me, now I have the upper hand.

"Answer me, damn it!"

The trainer stammered, "My, uh, name is Chad Scarfe. I work alone, I swear!"

"Why are you going around attacking travelers on this road?"

It was quite a redundant question, I know what he was really doing but I wanted to throw his world in disarray. Sure enough, he had no answer ready for me. So he shat one out of his ass, "I was just looking for pokémon to catch is all!"

"Yeah, somebody already beat you to it a long time ago. Now those poachers are dead and my trainer who was kind enough to shelter me is rotting in the grave. Tell that to all the pokémon who were abused, see if you can reach an understanding with them."

"Please, Pikachu! I-"

"That's _sir,_ you prick! I'm an old pikachu who has long retired from pokémon battling long ago, and I don't have fond memories of those days! So you better explain to me how long you were following me and why!"

"I saw you yesterday, at the apple orchard. I didn't watch you most of the time but I kept track on where you were!"

I released my grip and jumped off his chest. "Get up!"

Chad got up on his feet, barely holding his balance. "Turn around and start running, don't look back!"

He pointed to his butterfree, "But I gotta get my-"

"Does it know where you live?"

"Yes."

"Then don't worry about it, I incapacitated it and I'll resuscitate it. You just get your ass to Viridian City and hope that I don't start coming after you. I can do a lot worse than what I just did to your pokémon. Now run, boy!"

Oh boy how fast he ran. I never seen a pair of human legs move so fast in my life. Chad just spun around and ran for dear life, I stood there and watched till he was out of sight. I didn't think Chad would be coming back, so I went up to the butterfree. The bug was still breathing, unconscious but alive. Its tiny legs were moving and its antennae are twitching. The wings are a different story. My lightning somehow shredded them. Holes as big as my fist pockmarked both wings. No way could this butterfree make it out on its own. I can't say I felt bad about Chad, but I sure wasn't going to let this bug wither and die out here. I picked it up by the main body and held it up. The butterfly pokémon is ridiculously light, I had no trouble lifting it onto my head and carrying it to Pallet Town.

I didn't get five meters before it started sobbing. Something else was broken. Its pride or its bones. The bug was more fragile than I thought, after a few seconds of sobbing I adjusted my grip just a bit before it let out a loud inhuman screech. I stepped off the road and found a shady spot, then sat the butterfree down. _"Okay, what's broken?"_

 _"Everything hurts,"_ it said. _"My wings and legs hurt!"_

 _"Was it from the fall or getting electrocuted?"_

 _"The fall."_

I tried to narrow down the source of the pain. This bug had an exoskeleton, so when I began checking for injuries I felt a crack around where a rib cage should be. I felt air escaping from the crack. In a sense, you could say that the butterfree has a punctured lung. However, that applies to humans, since their lungs expand and contract. The insect's respiratory tract is more efficient. Its respiratory tract is made up of spiracles and small air sacs that are attached directly to the muscles and vital organs. So in reality, this insect has a _cracked_ lung, because one of those spiracles is broken and air is getting to the wrong place. I have nothing to seal it up with, so I improvised. _"Can you stay still for me while I go get something to seal up your wound?"_

 _"You're not going to leave me, are you?"_

 _"No, I'm just checking our immediate surroundings. If I were to leave you, I would have done so already. Now sit tight and don't move, I'll be right back."_

I left the butterfree and began scanning for conifer trees. Spruce trees, such as your usual pine, produce a special sap from its bark. The stuff is stickier than honey, yet it hardens when in contact from air. The tree produce this sap so it can seal up injuries and branch stubs, preventing infection. People have been using pine sap since ancient times, and the stuff is worth its weight in gold. I heard that it can be used as an alternative to stitches. Just heat it up on a fire before spreading that across a laceration, then lit it with a flame and watch it burn the wound shut. I would not attempt such a thing unless my life depends on it, I might as well roast myself over a fire before I burn my own wounds shut.

I found the sap not too far from the butterfree. Someone gashed out a portion of a tree with an edged object. It looked kind of human, since the patterns suggest an axe or a hatchet. He or she may have been looking for sap as well, because the tree's injury is covered deep in sap. I picked a stick up from the ground and began gathering it up on one end, getting as much of it as I could. It would be much easier if I had a fire to melt it all down with, but the butterfree can't wait that long. I have to make do with what I got.

When I felt I gathered enough, I took it back to the butterfree. It hadn't moved since I was away, but it was struggling to breathe. It was already making wheezing noise, and its mouth was starting to foam. I got down and applied the tree sap across the wound. The tree sap wasn't cooperating, so I smashed it into the wound with my thumb. It wasn't pretty, but I covered as much of the crack as best I could. The butterfree waved its little arms towards its foaming mouth, I got behind it and lifted it up. The butterfree hunched over and spat out the mucus. I patted its back as it cleared its throat. _"What's happening, bug?"_

It wheezed. _"I think I breathed in some smoke, it's getting hard to breathe."_

 _"I fixed up that cracked lung of yours."_

 _"That made breathing so much better, but it's still difficult."_

The butterfree wheezed and coughed up another ball of phlegm. _"Relax,"_ I said. _"Don't panic, just relax. If you start hyperventilating, you'll-"_

The butterfree yelped, I jumped back as it dropped on its belly and coughed up one final large ball of mucus. I couldn't understand what was happening at the time, but what I didn't realize that the butterfree was coughing up not mucus, but blood. I didn't know that insect blood was either colorless or has green or yellow pigment. It's not red like mine, humans, or any other non-bug type pokémon. Somehow when it hit the ground, it ruptured something important and began bleeding internally. Had I known it was blood I would have rushed the butterfree to Pallet Town's pokémon center, rather than piss around the forest trying to seal a minor wound. I watched as the butterfree took one gasp of breath through its spiracles, and then passed out.

I had no idea how to resuscitate an insect. They don't have a single heart, but multiple hearts throughout the body. Using electricity to restart them would be impractical, and giving CPR is out of the question. I may be intelligent but I do have limits to my knowledge. So what really killed the butterfree was not my Thunderbolt, but my own negligence in treating its injuries.

I slowly felt the butterfree becoming a vacuum, I picked up a stick and nudged its side. Nothing, the butterfree wouldn't move. It was gone. I wasn't sure if I should feel bad, since insects are a good source of protein to my species. But this has nothing to do with food. The butterfree was just following orders and I was defending myself. I stared at the body for some time, there wasn't much more I could do for it now. I just stepped back onto the road and continued my trip to Pallet Town, I didn't look back.

 **. . .**

I could see the outskirts of Pallet Town now. It wasn't the Pallet Town I had remembered when I arrived here with my family. It became more suburban and less rural. It had grown and developed over the past several decades. I have to stop for a moment and rest, reminding myself that the chance that Ash is still there is slim. His pokémon is there, yes, but not the trainer himself. He's not there, I told myself, he is not there. Andy of course may be there, probably waiting for me at the pokémon center. Who knows, he might be having a chat with the Nurse Joy, striking up conversation, sharing stories of their medical adventures. I can imagine it now. _"How do you still have your medical license?"_ The Nurse Joy would ask. _"Good question,"_ Andy would say. _"I work undercover, and I may have paid off a corrupt official or two. Don't get me wrong, they're good people and it's only for minor issues. Obviously that wouldn't be the case if I were to really fuck up."_

Andy is Andy, true. If I do recall, the regional pokémon professor resides here. Maybe Andy had come around and had a chat with him, maybe do a few chores for the professor. Knowing Andy, he would brag about himself of how awesome he would be. _"One time I broke my leg, so I cut it open and stapled it back together, then stitched it shut."_

 _"You can do that?"_ the professor would ask.

 _"I have a doctorate in emergency medicine and surgery, I'm qualified for the task. Besides, I know my own bones more than anyone else so it wasn't that difficult realigning everything and fixing everything back up."_

 _"No Anesthesia?"_

 _"Nope, just vodka and a music sheet for handling pain. Hot damn, I was pretty good at singing high notes._

Yeah, Andy. Go ahead and talk shit, fuck you.

With that in mind, I got up on my feet and began entering Pallet Town. A lot has changed alright, it was unrecognizable from my nightmare. Everything had modern architecture with a friendly face to them. There were some people about, commuting to stores and such. I wonder if they work just across the street or they were merely shopping. I found a few good restaurants, their trash cans overflowing with scrap. There were even children playing about. I stepped onto the side walk and began walking past the houses. They were pretty houses, great suburban homes. Some of the mailboxes had names on them, names such as Schaffer, Jackson, Henderson, Morgan. One name stood out in particular, I blinked. One house had a mailbox with the name _Ketchum._ I glanced at the windows. This was Ash's house. It was quite big like the other homes, well suited for a family of four and such.

I resisted the temptation on knocking on the door, instead I climbed up on the picket fence and jumped into the yard. There wasn't a garage, rather just a single walking path dividing the yard in two, going straight up to the front door. I walked around the home and checked the back yard. My eyes bulged. A swimming pool, a pretty big one too. Crisp blue with safety rails. Ash has a swimming pool? Even though the pool wasn't that deep, I found myself stepping away from it. That irrational fear of water getting to me. Yes, I know I saved that pichu from drowning but that was an exception. Doubled by the fact that I don't wanna be caught, the sight of the pool all enough to tell me to get the fuck out of the yard and don't come back.

I ran and jumped over the picket fence, then sprinted across the street and jogged my way toward downtown. I think the pokémon center is somewhere on main street, all pokémon centers are always on main street. It was quite a big pokémon center for a small town. Well, the regional road system cuts through here so there's bound to be a lot of traffic. I didn't wanna go walking into the pokémon center just yet. I half expected to see either Ash or Andy there. So instead I walked around the restaurants to take a look into their dumpsters. I was getting hungry, but I was quite picky on what I eat.

I found a pretty good size dumpster, I jumped up one of its lids and peaked under the other. The smell of grease poured out like a blast furnace. Inside were all sorts of half-eaten food, the kind any wild pokémon would go for. I sighed, somehow they don't seem appetizing anymore. I wasn't sure why, maybe it was the thought of eating something rotten or catch some disease that dissuaded me. I let the lid drop and jumped back down. Of course I was so picky, it had to be just right. And I wasn't interested in eating pokémon food either. I stood there pondering what I should do. Maybe I could walk right into the restaurant itself and order something. I heard some restaurants are free, not sure how these restaurants are funded but I heard the food they serve is pretty good. Maybe I should walk into one, order something, see how the waitress would react. Or I could mooch off of people's food like I had done back in Faraday Island. These people here are well aware of pikachus, I would feel right at home…

I shook my head from that last thought, no need for another flashback. I took a deep breath and held it, if I was going to eat I better go inside the pokémon center itself and see what's on the menu.

I walked back to the street, and just as I emerged I saw Ash coming down the road. My eyes bulged, his pikachu was perched on his shoulder as always. Cilan and Iris, his two companions, were nowhere in sight. He had someone with him. A girl, and she had the look of a journalist. They were on the other side of the street and were quite far off. I got carried away, I jumped to my feet and made a dash for them.

"Ash!" I called out. "Ash!"

It didn't take long for Ash to notice me. His face was gripped with confusion but his pikachu seemed quite happy to see me. Then their faces dropped. I heard tires screech, followed by the blast of a horn. I turned around and saw a red sports car coming toward me. The driver, some brown raven haired dude, panicked and tried to swerve but he was driving too fast.

They say when you stare at the moment of impending doom, your life flashes before your very eyes. My life was too long to flash in just a few seconds, but I had the time to mutter out one word, "Shit."

The bumper caught me on the forehead, knocking me to my back, and then I went rolling underneath the car. I felt my bones break in a chain reaction. My ribs cracked apart, my collarbone snapped, my shoulders popped, and my hips were crushed. My arms and legs cracked and snapped from flailing about. The last to break was my back. I felt several disks being crushed under the sheer force of the car. That started hurting like fuck. When the car finished passing over head I flopped on my belly, then all the broken bones in my old body started screaming in pain.

"Tesla!" I heard Ash screamed, followed by his pikachu.

I just laid there, disoriented. I heard people screamed. I tried to move but couldn't lift my body without the broken bones stabbing my flesh. My mouth tastes like blood, and my nose was starting to bleed. I opened my eyes and saw my eye goggles somehow flown off. The world became a blur, everything rolled over me rather than around me.

The symbol of defeat I suppose, having my goggles torn off shows true defeat. I faced up against all sorts of pokémon, only to end up being badly mauled by a car and left on the road to bleed to death.

"Don't touch him!" I heard a voice scream, it sounded like Andy but I couldn't be sure. "Stay back, don't get near him! His electricity can take down an entire army!"

I felt a hand touched my shoulder. "Tesla, it's me Andy. Shit, are you awake?!"

I oozed blood out of my mouth and grunted.

"Shit," said Andy. "My grandfather is going to haunt me for the rest of my life!"

I felt my heart jump inside my chest, then my mind started shutting down. The last I heard before blacking out was the sound of an ambulance coming down the road.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	27. Chapter 27

_Chapter 27_

So now you're wondering how I survived that situation unscathed, because if I had died then someone else would be telling you the story. Maybe Andy or Mark would investigate and interview all the pokémon I had encountered until this very point. But that wasn't the case. I survived, but my will did not.

I didn't slip into a dream or a flashback, or anything supernatural in that matter. I was unconscious, everything was blank. It was like going to sleep one night and waking up in the morning, unable to recall any dreams that have occurred. I did have a moment where I was barely conscious. Just a sparkle of consciousness, not enough to take in my surroundings but enough to let me think. I felt finished, done, end of the line. I was ready to die, in fact I felt ready to die years before. I wasn't sure if I was dead but I didn't feel death take me away.

I heard voices, a lot of them. A panicking Andy, a Nurse Joy, and some other people I don't recognize. My ears were still sharp, but they were also failing from age. "He's going to wake up confused and disoriented," I heard Andy say. "When he sees that breathing tube and the stitches, he's going to panic. Once survival mode kicks in, we better clear because he can kill everybody in the room."

"You're sure about that?" said a man's voice.

Andy took a deep breath. "I've seen him do it, and there was nothing left but ash and dust."

The Nurse Joy asked, "So how are we going to calm him down without hurting himself or anybody caring for him?"

"Drug him with morphine."

 **. . .**

I blanked out for another while. I initially forgotten the conversation, I was in a deeper state of euphoria. I think it was the drugs they were giving me, but I wasn't sure. But what I did know for sure was that when I woke up, there was a big ass breathing tube in front of me. It looked like some sort of vacuum cleaner trying to suck the life out of me. I panicked, I want it out. I want it out! I reached up to grab the breathing tube and was horrified to see my arms. There were big lacerations all over them, stitched closed with thick black thread.

Now I really panicked, I grabbed the breathing tube and tried to yank it out. I managed to get it out halfway before it got stuck. Something slipped out of my nose, and then I couldn't breathe. Oh the irony, choking on the breathing tube that's supposed to give me air. As I lay there suffocating, I heard the door burst open. The Nurse Joy screamed, "Dr. Westinghouse, Oak, get in here! He's asphyxiating!"

I passed out before I heard their running footsteps.

 **. . .**

This blank period was a lot longer than the last few, though somehow I felt a few presences. Some of them are familiar, others don't feel right. Overall I was stuck in deep sleep, alone, with my crumbling imagination. Words alone cannot describe this period, the best I can come up with is that it felt like I didn't exist anymore.

My life wasn't destroyed, it was torn apart, scrambled and rearranged. When consciousness began to return once more, I felt I had no control over the situation. One key, yet neglected part of my childhood was when both of my parents went over an invaluable lesson with my siblings and I. _"There are four things you have to remember in order to recognize a survival situation,"_ my father had said, _"one is a major threat to yourself or to anyone around you, two is the lack of valuable resources, three is no fast escape from this threat, and the fourth is that it is unplanned."_

 _"Remember,"_ my mama said. _"We wouldn't always be here to tell you if something bad is happening, you have to figure that out on your own."_

I remembered asking a question. _"How do we know if it is the end?"_

 _"End of what?"_

 _"Like, it's over for us?"_

They don't have an answer for that question at the time, we all learned that the hard way when my siblings and I became adults.

I had no resources, no fast exit, the threat was obvious and I had intended this shit to happen. I was in full-blown survival mode. My rationale was thrown out the window. Nothing mattered but one thing in mind. Home, I wanted to go home and put this all behind me.

When I came to, I felt sick, really sick. My body was still in pain and my stomach was turning somersaults in my belly. Nurse Joy or Andy had replaced the breathing tube with a breathing respirator. I pulled it off and threw it across the room, then I began tearing off all the electrodes and monitoring devices they stuck to me. I was even bold enough to remove the hypodermic needle they taped to my wrist. I didn't spend the time to fuck around with it, I just pulled off the tape and yanked it out. Blood oozed out of my wrist, the sight of it made me cringed. I had to get out of this pokémon center, I just had to get out.

I wasn't sure why they hadn't taken the time to place casts or braces on me. I have no doubt they tore me open to stitch and fix my bones. Perhaps I was too dangerous to get a full-body cast, or my damaged rib cage made that impossible. Whatever the reason, everything felt as bad as they first broke. My back was hurting, my arthritis was at its limit. I stumbled to the side of the hospital bed and attempted to climb down. Only to drop to the floor like a sack of bricks. I didn't feel anything break, but everything hurt like fuck. I clenched my teeth and tried to stand up, but my hips gave and forced me back to the floor. My stomach made another somersault, I got up on all fours and puked. Nothing came out but stomach acid. Was it acid indigestion or reflux? I don't know, but it was bad. I stumbled away from the puke and made my way to the door.

It opened, the first person who came in was Andy. I didn't recognize him in my state of euphoria and his voice sounded off. His white doctor's coat set me off, there was no possibility he could reason with me.

"Tesla," he said, looking at the mess I made. "Oh shit, you shouldn't be-"

I gave him a hard shock, not enough to kill him but enough to launch him back out into the hall and crash into the next room. _"Gotta get out!"_ I told myself in pokémon speech. _"Gotta get out!"_

Chanseys came rushing into the hall as I stepped out of the room. Two of them, both were well trained but they weren't prepared for a powerful pokémon my size. They had no time to react when I unleashed another shock. Both chanseys were knocked back with serious force. One skidded down the hall and hit its head against a gurney, another smashed against the wall and plopped on to the floor. The Nurse Joy rushed into the room, saw me, and ran out. "Call security!" she cried.

"What is going on?!" a voice cried out, I think it was Ash but I wasn't sure.

I felt my bones shift awkwardly in my joints, my rib cage started popping, and my back crackled. It felt like something was rearranging my skeleton. I groaned, puked out more acid. My vision was so blurry that I couldn't see faces in front of me, but that wasn't going to stop me from going places.

When I crawled into the lobby of the pokémon center, I was in for a surprise. I saw Ray, Bruiser, even Volta, sitting on the couches. Wheels was there, and so was Ash and his pikachu. That reporter girl was there too, and this old fuck, also wearing a lab coat, was sitting by them. All of them were giving me that fearful look. I couldn't recognize Ash or my own family, I thought it was just my imagination.

"Tesla!" Ray cried out. "It's me, Ray! Remember Bruiser and Volta?!"

The lights flickered, my body started glowing purple. I felt my arms and legs popped, suddenly I had the strength to stand on my two feet.

"He recovered that fast?" said the old man in the white lab coat.

I held up a hand toward him and gave him a nasty shock. It launched him out of the sofa, sending him collapsing onto the floor. Ash stretched out his hand. "Professor Oak!"

 _"Tesla,"_ cried Ash's pikachu. _"Please, it's us! Your friends!"_

I didn't get the chance to answer when Bruiser and Ray tried to tackle me. I punched the ground and sent an EMP in all directions. The lights went out, all electrical-type pokémon in the room flickered for a fraction of a second, then collapsed in sudden nausea. Ray was barely phased, he made his charge upon me. The last time I battled him was nearly impossible, he was strong as fuck and can take on lethal levels of electricity. This time I went after him man'o to man'o, I gave him a headbutt to his groin, then grabbed him with my hands. I swear I think I lifted him over my head and smashed him to the ground, then sucker punched his pressure points. Bruiser got up and tried to tackle me. I merely zapped him before he got close, Bruiser stumbled back and collapsed on the floor, moaning in pain.

 _"Tesla,"_ I heard Ash's pikachu cry. I saw him come running up to me, his eyes filled with mercy.

Ash stretched out his head. "Pikachu, no!"

The reporter held Ash back as I let pikachu get close, then I grabbed him by the throat and held him up in the air. When we had first met we had a battle. I was the victor. I was about to give Ash's pikachu miserable pain until I saw something in him that told me there might be something good worth living in the world. If that was the case, it wasn't going to come to me. So I have to come to it.

This time I didn't spare Ash's pikachu. He tossed and kicked his legs, trying to swat at me. I looked at him for a moment, then tightened my grip. His body gave off a bright light as I absorbed whatever usable electricity he had. He screamed with a high-pitch voice, a scream I hadn't heard any pikachu in years. I kept sucking his energy until he stopped screaming. When I eased off the petal, I saw his body had gone limp. He was still breathing, but had lost consciousness. Disgust, I grabbed him with both hands and threw him straight out the window. The glass shattered upon impact as Ash's pikachu tumbled head first outside, his little feet and tail sticking toward the sky before he disappeared from sight.

By then the reporter had muscled Ash out of the pokémon center and were running down the street. Ash was persistent in going back for his pikachu, but the girl forbade him.

Bruiser managed to get up again and tried to ambush me a third time, this time I sucker punched him straight into the gut with an electrified fist. He flew back and hit his head against the coffee table, the table broke upon impact. Stars swirled over Bruiser's head as he dropped the ground one final time, then fainted.

Volta and Wheels were nowhere in sight. They were gone, but I didn't care. As long as they don't follow me, they won't get what's coming for them.

I heard sirens starting to scream outside. The cops had been called. I was in no mood for a showdown, so I stepped onto the couch and leaped onto the broken window sill. Ash's pikachu laid motionless on the ground, surrounded by broken glass. His head was covered with minor cuts but nothing serious. He wasn't getting up and following me anytime soon. I checked one final time to make sure nobody was watching, then jumped into the cold night air and made a run for it down the road. I slipped into an alleyway and plunged myself into the shadows of the night.

 **. . .**

So now you're wondering why I had did such a thing. Rip off my life support, attacked my closest friends, and incapacitated my relatives who had just showed up out of the blue. To tell you the truth, I had enough. Rather than expecting a warm hug from Ash Ketchum, I got my ass ran over by a sports car and dangled over the jaws of death via thin thread. I made a decision and I was denied, brutally. I began to feel I had no control over my life. Realized my path was made by other people and pokémon. My path started here, in Pallet Town, roughly 87 years ago. Back in Soho, I felt it was time to throw in the towel. Now here in Pallet Town, it was time to do so for real, but on my own terms. On that moment I regained full consciousness, all the aggression and grudges I ever had on everybody came out. And it came out with vengeance.

I ran down the alleyways, getting as far away from those sirens as much as humanly possible. My mouth was dry, my throat parched. Somehow being thirsty improved my vision to a degree. Even in near dark conditions, my blurry world cleared up. Though it was not enough to read fine print, it was enough to make out the simple details of what is around me. For the rest of the night, I didn't feel like the old Tesla Westinghouse adored by fans and respected by pokémon. I felt like the pichu Sparky, who was running for his dear life.

I wasn't sure where I was going, but instinct was pulling me toward a specific destination. To keep me motivated, I convinced myself that my mama was trapped in a cage and was crying in misery. I wanted to go let her out, let my father out, and free my brothers and sisters so we could be a big happy family again. Don't worry mama, your Sparky is coming to save you!

I was back at the suburban area of Pallet Town. This time I ignored the Ketchum residence, instead going straight for the large building at the end of the road. It was built on a hill, surrounded by trees. I could make out a windmill towering over the plot of land. I knew what it was by heart. It had changed a lot since the last time I saw it but the Kanto Pokémon Lab was once a Team Rocket processing center for poaching operations back in the day. The last time I was here, I was brought into that building against my will. Now I return with freedom, hoping to silence the ghosts of my past. I ran around the back and made a dash toward the door. I leaped forward and broke it down. The door flew wide, smashing itself against the wall. Being a small pokémon made things difficult to perform human tasks, like opening doors. I have no time to piss around with doors, this moment was too important for me.

 _"Mama,"_ I called out. _"Mama, where are you?"_

Denial, gets the best of us. I stared down the darkened corridor of the hallway. It felt peaceful, but ominous. I crept down the hall and made my way toward the main room. Chills ran down my back as I stepped into the wide open space of the pokémon lab. Here this room is used to process the captured pokémon, now it is used for beginning trainers to choose their pokémon. To my eyes, there was no different. Be it good or be it evil, the same shit had been going on in this cursed building for decades.

 _"Mama?!"_

Silence, just pure silence. I sat there for some time, listening to my own heartbeat and the creaking of the building. My mama is no longer here, my father is no longer here. My family is gone, lost, forgotten in time. I even felt forgotten myself.

My inner humanity began regaining control. The pichu inside me quieted down, but was still present. I looked at my arms and body, I had so many stitches over my body I felt like a pikachu baseball. I took a deep breath, held it, and then sighed. I searched all the rooms in the pokémon lab for a first aid kit or something to clean up my wounds, despite looking so huge on the outside the pokémon lab was actually quite small. The laboratory was in the back, but nothing special there. I located an office, the name Professor Samuel Oak was displayed on a brass nameplate, which was fixed on a mahogany oak desk. I searched the cabinets and drawers, still no first aid kit. I left the room and searched the other rooms. I eventually found myself in the medical ward of the pokémon lab. The infirmary was dark, devoid of patients and doctors. The medical beds were empty, the staff desks unmanned. I had the medical ward all to myself.

I found the first aid kit, it was displayed on the wall. It was orange, displaying the blue star of life on its face. The metal box was intended to be used by a trained professional. Oh well, a first aid kit is a first aid kit. Nothing special about them otherwise.

I jumped up and grabbed the orange box, yanking it off the wall. I took the first aid kit to a private bathroom, the lights kicked as I stepped into the bathroom and placed the first aid kit on the toilet seat. I closed the door and opened up the kit. Sure enough it was advanced, equipped with scalpels and a stitching kit. I grabbed a scalpel and looked at it for a few seconds. Light reflected off of its mirror surface and it looks quite sharp. I sat down on the floor and held up my arm, and began cutting away the stitches.

Yes, I know that was a mad thing to do, but I wanted everything that man had put inside me out of my body. It was tedious work, cutting away all those stitches while trying my best not to cut myself. I severed each stitch, then pulled the thread out and tossed it to the floor. I more stitches I removed, the more I began to realize that the wounds they were supposed to close were already healed. Wait, healed? I peered closely at my arm where I had removed the black stitches. I couldn't see the pin holes in my arm, I couldn't even see the scar from the surgery I had. They were gone, non-existent. Somehow my wounds regenerated back to their pre-injury state. I was puzzled, how was that possible?

It took me a moment to realize that about a month ago, doctors had injected nanobots into my system to combat hostile microbes and abnormal cells. They also assist in healing any physical damage done to my body. The nanobots in my system had noticed I was near death. When they sensed I was pulverized by the automobile, they went to hyperdrive and began a mad dash to save my life. That nausea and shifting bones I was feeling when I was escaping the pokémon center; that was the nanobots fixing up the fractures done to my body. When I finished removing all the stitches, I tossed the scalpel aside and began to physically inspect my body. The wounds that Nobark gave me were gone. The scar from the liver transplant surgery was gone. I pressed my hands against my ribs and collarbone, I couldn't feel the titanium implants holding my skeleton together.

I found out much later that the nanobots in my bloodstream had received an update, some sort of experimental replication process in case of emergencies. I guess this one count, as the nanobots were not only repairing my bones, they were eating the titanium implants to make more of themselves. I was quite lucky, I could've been crippled for life if the nanobots hadn't had that upgrade.

I flexed my arms and legs, no arthritis pain of any kind. I jumped up and down with ease and I flexed my back. I was amazed, I had no prior evidence of any injury done to me anymore. I leaped up on the sink and looked at the mirror. Instead of seeing my usual self, I saw a quite normal pikachu. My fur was growing back, whatever white hairs I have shed themselves, replaced by a small buzz of yellow. I blinked, I couldn't believe it. I looked like the pikachu before I was poached. I stared at myself for a few minutes, letting the feeling sink in. I snickered, then chuckled, then broke down laughing. I laughed for a good five minutes in deep hysteria. Next thing I knew I slipped from laughing into crying. I didn't know how long I had cried, all I remembered was finding myself in the bowl of the sink, weeping softly.

I sat there in silence, listening to the background noise. Finally I stood up and climbed down on the sink. I wanted to go home. No, not to Faraday Island, but the very place I had called home in the beginning of my life. My mama always told me if we were to be separated, we all knew by heart where home is. I somehow tricked myself she might be there, waiting for me. Obviously she and the rest of my family were dead for generations, but I wasn't thinking straight at the time. I wanted to go home, and home is where I shall go. The bathroom lights killed themselves and I was plunged back to darkness. I stepped out of the bathroom and made my way back outside. One thing about Kanto that never changed were the stars. The constellations were exactly as I had remembered them from my childhood. For the first time in almost a century, I was using the stars to find my way back home.

The sirens had died down over Pallet Town, but there was still plenty of police activity. I crept on the outskirts of town and made my way back onto Route 1. From there, I walked a straight line toward Viridian City. Walking took forever, but this time I wasn't stopping for any bullshit. I kept walking, my eyes fixed down the dark road. I had Route 1 all to myself. When I reached the city limit of Viridian City, the sun was just starting to come up. I didn't transverse through the city, instead I walked around it. That alone took a long while, by the time I reached other side the sun was well over the horizon.

Now on Route 2, I unearthed old memories of where home used to be. Viridian Forest had shrunk considerably, a lot of young trees were growing all over the place, changing the landscape considerably. However the old growths of my childhood were still there. Thicker and taller, but still recognizable. Using those trees, I stepped off of Route 2 and navigated through the ancient forest. My memories were coming back to me, this new world started becoming familiar. Home wasn't that far now, I could feel it in my core.

The walk down toward my old burrow took some time. My parents made sure it was well-hidden from predators. Only a trained eye can see it. I emerged into a small clearing and surveyed the landscape. This new world looked similar to my childhood, some things just never change. I walked along the edge of the forest clearing, recounting my steps, it didn't take long for me to locate the familiar old tree that sits above my burrow. It was larger than I had remembered it, and it was dying. I stared at the tree for a moment, letting the scene sink in. I took a deep breath, then approached the old burrow.

The burrow was partially buried from erosion, but I recognized its general shape. Vegetation had grown around it, whatever bedding and personal touch my parents had made to this shelter had long rotted away. I walked around the burrow and found the grave of my grandmother and my uncle. The markers remained where my parents had left it. I returned to the burrow and pressed my hands against the soil, it feels foreign, and this wasn't the topsoil I used to know. I stood up and stepped back. This burrow had never saw life in decades. My parents never came back, neither did any surviving sibling. I dropped to my knees, I felt like I was going to cry again.

No, I would cry later. I have work to do. I turned around and grabbed a flat-stone within the bushes, then got to work in digging out the burrow.

 **. . .**

It was tiresome work. Hours passed, I panted heavily. I wasn't really sweating as I should. My hands ached from digging out the burrow with the rock. Earth was tossed everywhere, burying the vegetation around the burrow. The deeper I dug, the more familiar the soil became. I knew what my old home smelled like, the smell came to my nose when I got deeper into the burrow. I couldn't smell any signs of family, but the burrows own smell was well present. I kept on digging, my arms were sore and my legs could barely hold my weight. Eventually I dug deep enough to where it could hold nine pikachus again, but deep down, I knew that would not happen again. What matters is that I am home now. This burrow was where I was born, and at the time I thought this was where I would die.

I stuck the stone into the wall of the burrow and collapsed. I was exhausted, the burrow's cold earth cooled my hot fur. My brow was dry, I hadn't sweated for a couple of hours now. I didn't have any energy to make a trip to the river. I was tired, I wanted to sleep. I closed my eyes and thought back through my 108 years of life.

There were good times, and then there were bad. None of them mattered now. My servitude with Irvin is finished, my childhood has disappeared. I'm wanted by the law, surviving off of unwanted glory and wealth from Irvin. I had a lot of friends, but most of them are dead now. I have a lot of descendants, but I don't know most of them. Humanity, the master race, have ruled the world for 10,000 years. I've seen the real meaning of life. Either kill to eat, or be killed and eaten. For humans, its competition and greed. They sucked me in, made a profit of me, now I am more human than pokémon. I wished to return to my own pokémon life, but now I knew that would be impossible. Someday the world will suffer a massive disaster and pokémon will retake full control of the planet, but not without mass death and casualties. Now the question is if anyone would want that power, and if so, can they handle it?

I sure didn't, I didn't asked to become the Master of Electricity. I sure didn't asked to become the leader of the Dixierats. I sure as fuck that I didn't asked to have my face planted on a flag and flown above a country. I've hated it all, which caused me to age significantly. Faraday kept me alive, next they put a bounty on me so they could keep me in their fold. I broke out of it, now the Island is a mess, swarming with mutant relatives of mine. So what do I want? A family? A proper life? No, those are fundamental wants. I gotta ask for something unique, something that I fucking deserve. Polly is a pipe dream, my old family is also a pipe dream. I can't ask for them back, I gotta ask for something realistic.

And then it dawned on me.

I wanted to be left alone.

I curled myself into a ball and yawned. I hadn't slept since last night. I was weak, dehydrated, and out of energy. I think this was the only time in my life that my energy reserves are at a dangerously low, I spent a lot of it from that mad escape from the pokémon center. Fuck my reserves, all that electricity is too dangerous for me to handle anyway. Besides, I didn't ask to become a weapon of mass destruction.

From there, I passed out. Not sure for how long. At the time, I believed it was my time to die.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	28. Chapter 28

_Chapter 28_

But I was wrong.

I was jarred awake by a pikachu hand. I panicked, I tried to struggle but I was too disoriented to muster resistance. "I think I found him," called out Volta's voice.

"Are you sure it's him?" Andy asked.

Volta wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me. "I don't know, he feels different."

She pulled me out of the burrow. Bright lights flashed before my eyes, the offending world reasserting itself. Andy rushed to my side with an unopened water bottle. He twist off the top and handed it to me. "Here, take some sips."

Clean water, so refreshing. The water woke me out of my stupor the moment it hit my tongue, but not enough to get a fix on the world. Andy felt my head, then checked my pulse. "Damn, he's so dry I couldn't feel a pulse." He checked my neck. "There's one, but it's weak."

Andy put something in my mouth. It was a pill, the shape told me it was Valium. I took it without question and Andy helped me wash it down with water.

"Tesla," Andy called out to me, "can you hear me?"

I muttered, "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Tesla. It was just your instincts taking over."

Andy curled me up in his arms. "Okay, guys. He's going to be incapacitated for a while. Whatever you do, do not interact with him when he is in stress because he will knock you down."

I squirmed, "My home!"

Andy said, "Don't worry, Tesla. We're not going far."

I couldn't remember much about the trip from my childhood burrow back to Pallet Town. Everything was a blur. All I knew we traveled fast, and before I could comprehend what was going on I was inside a manmade structure. For all I knew it felt like I was being poached again.

 **. . .**

When I woke up, I found myself in a normal bed. No medical equipment. No annoying heart monitor sounds. Nothing. I wasn't hooked up to anything and have no needles inserted into me. My world was a deep blur again, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I started looking for where my eye-goggles were until I remembered they were smashed from the car accident. But strangely enough, I found a pair sitting on the nightstand. I picked it up, felt the frame. Like my last pair, it was all black save for a thick purple stripe across the elastic band. I put it on.

The world cleared up to reveal a ten-year-old boy's bedroom. At first I was confused, and then Ash's scent wavered through my nose. I was in his house. I let that thought settle in my head, then I got down from the bed. The door was open ajar, I pulled it open and stepped outside. I could hear familiar voices coming down from the stairs. A part of me wanted to go down, but not yet. I need to use the bathroom. So I turned around and located the bathroom. I didn't bother flipping the switch, somehow my own electrical abilities activated the lightbulb. If anyone downstairs notice the power fluctuations, they're going to know I was awake.

I hopped on the toilet and did my business. My urine was dark yellow and smelled rancid. My stool looked awful, it smells unbearable. I unloaded my system, wiped my butt, and then flushed the toilet. I hopped on top of the sink and washed my hands. I looked at myself in the mirror. I almost looked like the pikachu when I first met Irvin, save for a few minute differences. Like I still had a few strands of random white hair, my eye-goggles were brand new, and the fact I could see my ribs. I turned around and noticed a weight scale, I jumped down and hopped on it. The scale's computer measured my weight, then came up with a number.

5.6 kilograms.

I was surprised, I guess I was that underweight. I am slightly taller than the average pikachu, I should be weighing around seven to eight kilograms. Nine may be too much, but why do I even care? I got off the scale and made my way toward the stairs. I stopped at the edge and took a deep breath, everybody down there were talking just as normal. It sounded like they were getting to know each other.

I stepped down the stairs, keeping a hand on the side wall. When I reached the bottom, I turned and found my relatives sitting on the couch. Folding chairs were brought out, including a couple of chairs from the kitchen. Everybody was talking as normal, they were telling stories. I sat at the base of the stairs and listened.

"So you were a labrat being experimented on for what?" the old professor asked.

"Drugs," said Ray. "Lots of drugs. Sometimes the drugs were good, but when the drugs are bad they gave me a sedative to relieve the suffering."

"What kind of drugs did they give you?"

"Don't answer that question, Ray!" Bruiser broke out.

I smiled, typical cousins. I peeked through the bars and can make out Ash sitting by the back wall. His pikachu sat perched on his shoulders, his scalp wrapped up with gauze. The reporter girl sat by his right, and this older woman sat at his left. Her hair was brown, and the eyes were familiar. I'm guessing this was Ash's mom. I'm calling it now. I wondered to myself if she viewed me as a threat, much like how Irvin's mom had after I blew his arm off…

Andy said, "Wheels, was your trainer a race car enthusiast?"

"Yes," said my son. "He was quite an enthusiast, I used to watch him on the track, racing cars. I was already well into retirement, I had it easy. I was with his son when I saw his race car try to make a turn, but it hit something in the road. The car flipped and rolled 14 times, I watched in horror when his car rolled on its top. The gas tank caught fire but didn't engulf the car. He died from a broken neck. I was so horrified that I fainted."

"I'm sorry I asked," said Andy.

"Doesn't matter now, after what happened to my father…"

I stepped around the corner and spoke. "A few weeks after my trainer, Irvin Westinghouse, signed our contract of ownership, he tried to train me in his mother's backyard, using a copper pipe and no protection whatsoever."

All eyes turned to me, a lot of eyes bulged.

"He waved that copper pipe in the air like it was candy, asking me to strike it with a Thunderbolt. At the time I was still adjusting from a life in the wild to life in human civilization. I hated him and was very aggressive, maybe I still am. He wanted me to strike that copper pipe so he could gauge my power. For a teenager, he had not a single clue about what electricity could do. So, with no qualms at all, I gave it all I got. I shocked the pipe with bright purple electricity and blew his arm apart in a blink of an eye. That was the first time Faraday Island heard my classic thunder.

"I stood there contemplating how much of an idiot he was, and I thought I even killed him. But no, he just sat up, with a smile on his face and said, 'Damn, that was a little too strong.' He looked at what was left of his arm. His forearm and hand were blown off. Clean off. Bits and pieces were everywhere. His elbow was left intact, oh boy did it pissed me off when he smelled it. I had thoughts about shocking him again when his mom came out to see what was happening. And when she saw the mess I created, she screamed so loud an astronaut could hear it from the moon.

"Irvin claims 'it's only a flesh wound,' even when blood is obviously squirting out of the exposed blood vessels. She rushed him inside and I followed. After she got a tournaqet on Irvin's arm, she shot a look at me and unleashed rage upon me. Irvin tried to defend me, but she simply picked me up and threw me out the window. I got cut up pretty bad, but nothing serious. As Irvin's mom took her boy to the hospital, I thought about leaving him for a better life elsewhere. But I had nothing out there for me anymore, the idea, as much as I loved it, was unappealing. So I stayed at the house, and waited.

"When they got back later that night, they didn't say anything. Things were quiet, the window was duct taped shut with trash bags and the mess was cleaned up. Around midnight, Irvin came out looking for me. I stepped out, he saw me and took me back inside where he treated the glass wounds with bandages. Just when he was done his mom caught him in the act. 'Irvin,' she screamed. 'You get that rat out of my house!'

"'Mom, it was my fault!' he screamed.

"'Boy, I swear if you don't get that thing out of this house, I will kick you out and forbid you from coming back!'

I sighed, "I never realized how much Irvin really cared for me, even after what had happened. He stared at his mother for a long time, and then he simply grabbed his things and left. His mother later disowned him, wrote him out of her will. She even went so far to ban him attending her funeral."

I shook my head. "I wasn't mad at her throwing me out of an unopened window, she had every right to do that. I know that mother instinct well, I too had a loving mother. But what I didn't understand was why she would ban her child from her life. Why would anyone go through all that trouble to bring a child to the world and then just dump it in the streets like garbage? That-"

I caught my emotions just in time. I paused for a moment, then told everybody an older story. "Just days after my siblings and me evolved into a pikachu, we were poached one day while foraging for breakfast. They were Team Rocket grunts, they brought us to Pallet Town where they figure out what to do with us. I think they were checking to see if we were suited for pokémon battling. They picked me, because I showed resistance. I was just trying to protect my family. So they made a grab for me and my mama caught my arms. My mama was screaming mercy, I was crying for help. But we were on our own. They pulled me out of my mother's arms, tossed me into a cage, and trucked me out of this town. I suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder because of that moment. That aggression you saw back at the pokémon center, I just slipped into a flashback, I felt I was reliving my nightmare again. I… I…"

I grabbed my ears and tried to hold back my tears, but Volta jumped down from the couch. She rushed up to me and gave me a hug. Wheels followed behind, he propped himself on his braces and hugged me. "It's great to have you back, Dad!"

Volta cried, "We thought we lost you!"

I pushed her away and looked at her in the eye. "It's great to see you, Volta. But what are you doing here?"

"Things were getting too hot in Faraday Island, they managed to get communications restored and now everybody knows what is happening. But by that time the Dixierats have infested almost all the towns. We were all thinking about you, and since we wanna know about our history we came looking for you."

"We simply went straight to Pallet Town," said Bruiser. "We figured you would be there, due to Ash in all."

I asked, "Did you have any part in this?"

"Ray dragged me into this and how can I refuse? This mutant rikachu is my cousin, one of the few closest friends I ever had in the world. He wanted to come along, and I didn't want him to leave so I came along too."

"How did you all get here?"

"Plane, slipped the pilot a few bills and here we are."

Andy said, "When they heard about what happened to you with that sports car, Ray lost it. He put heavy emphasis on saving you. He slammed his fist on the coffee table and screamed, 'Damn it! If we lose him, we lose our connection to our ancestors! We lose our history!'"

Ray said, "Bruiser calmed me down, or at least tried to. I hadn't lost my head like that before, it all used to be the skitz and now it's potential loss."

Andy continued. "You nearly asphyxiated when you tried to take off your breathing tube. Nurse Joy tried to use the deliberator to restart your heart, but knowing how stubborn you are, Tes. I tried to warn her against it. But she already had the pads on you and tried to give you a shock, only to shock herself and send her flying against the wall. As Professor Oak here was resuscitating her, I gave you an epinephrine shot through the heart and that saved you."

I turned to the old man. "Oak?"

He said, "Professor Samuel Oak, I work in the pokémon lab just down the road. The person who ran you over was my grandson, he was driving too fast down the road and managed to hit you. He's horrified at what happened."

"How is he?"

"I think he's doing okay since he heard you're alright, but I'm not sure. I wondering how your stitches and bones healed so fast. That accident shattered every bone in your body, we had to cut you open to stable and reinforce all the bones back together."

"Yeah, that pretty much sent me over the edge. How long was I out?"

"About four days."

"What day is it?"

"Twenty-first of March."

I said nothing, because today is my birthday. Andy's eyes went wide. He figured it out, but he kept his mouth shut. He knew my nature well.

So I broke the news, "Just to let everyone know, I was born on the day the portable computer was invented. I turn 108 today."

Volta leap up on me and gave me a hug. "It's your birthday!"

I shook my head. "Don't get overexcited. I am so old that counting my years reminds me of an impending death sentence, I am in no mood to celebrate."

Professor Oak said, "I hope you don't mind, but I took a blood sample from you and analyzed it. You are missing two genes responsible for aging, resulting in your long lifespan. I've heard of cases of this before but I never seen it in person before."

"I'm guessing you also found the mutation for my electrical abilities."

"I found that too, there's never been such a highly potent gene like that in recorded history. Well, in a pokémon like you that is."

"It isn't something to advertise. I know my species and I know my culture. That kind of power prevents me from living any normal life, I'm not surprised if any other pikachu have this power they would keep it a secret. The stigma would be too great. Imagine being challenged all the time, non-stop. Now add in the massive energy demand to unleash such electricity, why do you think I'm mostly skin and bone?"

Ray said, "Back at the pokémon center, you blew out the backup generators when you forced everyone around you to the walls. We didn't expect you to recover so fast. In fact we didn't expect you to be that powerful."

"I guess I reached my full potential. Back in the day, I could latch onto the backs of people's necks and assume direct control over their nervous system, now it seems I could do it wirelessly. Such a power to have, no wonder I went mad."

Professor Oak said, "But what about your recovery? I couldn't find a gene responsible for that, but I did find nanobots in your system."

"It was the nanobots, Oak. I guess they stepped up their game in trying to save me. I felt younger, healthier even. But not much else."

At that moment, a mr. mime came in from the kitchen with a broom and saw me. I shot a look at it, the barrier pokémon backed into the kitchen and disappeared from sight. "Yeah," I said. "With all that power I have, pokémon breeders sure wanted to get a hold of my genes."

I crawled up to the couch and sat down. Volta and Wheels crawled up and sat on opposite sides of me. The older woman next to Ash asked, "So you met my son at Faraday Island?"

"Uh yes, you are?"

"Delia Ketchum, I'm his mother."

I nodded, "I knew that motherly type from somewhere. Uh yes, I did met Ash on Faraday Island. In a forest within sight of the city. I was in a standoff with police for twenty years, I had a bounty on my head and I was weary of people coming my way. Ash was with Mark, that idiot of a grandson of Matt, thought he could get a hold of me with his relation. So they teamed up in a pokémon battle against me and it was all over within seconds, because I was too strong for them."

I turned to Ash, "Sorry you have to see all that, Ash. Me being roadkill in all."

Ash said, "I'm just glad you're okay."

 _"Oh boy,"_ his pikachu muttered.

I said in pokémon speech. _"Yeah, I guess being thrown out a window made you realize that pokémon battling is not a life for me."_

He gave me a curious look, but said nothing.

I continued in human speech. "I've followed Ash on and off, made some history but not much else. And then on one occasion we bumped into each other in Soho, and then an old friend of mine came in and kidnapped him."

"Did he lay a hand on my boy?" Delia asked sternly.

"So Ash told you about Nobark?"

"I heard the story from him, but I'm not too sure."

"He didn't harm him, in, the scrafty was too fond of him, much like me when I first met Ash. I don't know what went through Nobark's head, but I was sure he was going to kill the boy. So I did what I have to do, I took a gun and shot Nobark dead, but not before I had Ash take cover so he doesn't have to see the chaos that unfolded around him. What a mess, and I had to take the fall. At least your son is alive, I have another son who had died in my arms. Now his body is stuck inside a freezer, waiting to be buried."

"I'm sorry."

"Can you imagine not meeting your children until they're in their later years of life? I don't know how many children I have that are still alive. It's an eerie feeling to outlive them, especially if they don't know who their parents were."

Volta said, "Oh, Mark also left the Island, trying to track down Polly. He brought his friends with him, even took Smugleaf and Wotter with him."

"Who's Smugleaf and Wotter?" Delia asked.

"A snivy and dewott, close friends with Nobark. He tried to give them a new life but failed, I felt they didn't deserve the crimes the Pokémon Resistance Army had done, so I sent them with Mark to Faraday Island. Took a bit of persuading, but he cooperated."

A heavy silence in the room gripped the room, heavier than I expected for a crowd this size. After a moment, Professor Oak broke the silence. "If you want, we can take you back to the pokémon lab to help give you some closure over what happened."

"Yeah, that is a good idea."

Delia said, "Well, I better get back to work. Ash, will you be okay with Tesla?"

"I'll be okay, I always feel safe around him."

That statement was questionable after what I did to his pikachu, but he seemed to have forgiven me. I wasn't willing to assume he did, I made a mental note to meet up with him alone to sort it out.

Andy got up from the couch and stretched. "Well, we better get a move on. We're burning daylight."

 **. . .**

The sun was still rising in the sky under the sleeping village of Pallet Town. No sirens, no broken glass, nothing. It was like my little stunt from the night before never happened. When Andy asked if he could carry me, I refused, I told him I wanted to make the journey on my own legs. I walked upright the whole time, didn't really noticed until I was right up to the front door of the pokémon lab. Professor Oak unlocked the front door and pushed the door open and we all stepped inside.

"Team Rocket used to own this place eighty years ago," I said. "This room was their main hub. If my memory is correct, the center of this room is lined with folding tables covered with pokémon poaching equipment. There were more wild pokémon living in my time than today, Kanto had such diversity."

Professor Oak asked, "How many pokémon? I mean, what is best guesstimate?"

"How many wild pokémon did you see when coming from Viridian Forest to Pallet Town?"

"None, really. We were on the main road."

"Back then, I saw pokémon of all species everywhere, even on the main road. An average of one every two to five minutes, and the noise of all those mating calls were unbearable. Now Viridian Forest is almost dead, I cannot say about other places in Kanto. To come to think of it, I recalled remembering a mere handful of pokémon species that are now extinct. Can't remember their names, I think they were never recorded."

"You said you were taken to a pokémon lab?" Ash asked.

"I don't know exactly where, but it felt like I've been from one lab to another. These weren't Team Rocket labs because I was sold off for profit, I know because I've seen cash and handshakes were exchanged. The professors running these labs at the time played a role in wiping out hundreds of pokémon species. Back then they didn't keep us in poké balls like today, they keep us in small metal cages. They weren't trying to be mean, they just don't know how to handle us."

I shot a look at Professor Oak. "So right now I'm not fond of being around you because of my bad experience, but tell me this. Do you let the pokémon you keep here outside?"

"Yes, yes I do."

"I don't have such a luxury."

I walked around the room and stopped to where I believe I had last seen my family. I stared at the spot for a moment and closed my eyes. "My instincts tell me this is where I last saw my parents alive, right here. The poachers sat us on a table and were going over us. They weren't acting like evil-doers, that's the one thing I noticed about them. These people look like everyday family men who would wash their cars on summer days and mow the lawn once a week. The conversations weren't threatening, it sounded normal enough. I personally believed they took these jobs so they can provide for their families, I know because some of them were wearing wedding rings."

"What were they doing?" Ash asked.

"Well, they left us in the cage for a while. I think it was for a day, by then we were standing in our own shit. Hungry and dehydrated, we couldn't put up much of a fight. Since the cage was rubberized, our electrical attacks were fruitless. But we were not pokémon bred for battle, we were pure-blooded chus living simple lives in the wild. I say pure-blooded, because at that time, I knew not a single chu of any kind ever escaping from captivity and talked about pokémon battling. I didn't know what pokémon battling even was until I met Irvin." I scratched my head. "So after they let us rot for some time, they washed us off with a fire hose. The pressure from the hose knocked us off our feet, my mama grabbed me and took the brunt force of the hose. It was the last time she ever protected me."

I stared at the florescent lights and said, "After Team Rocket washed us off, they brought our cage up to the table for an inspection. They put on thick gloves and pulled us out one by one. They were checking us for diseases and imperfections, but more importantly they were checking our behavior. One by one, my parents and siblings were inspected. I've seen the inspectors force open their mouths, checked their teeth, checked their ears, combed through their furs, and then they put their fingers where they don't belong. They couldn't fight back. We were prey pokémon, and our energy was drained, all we could do was beg for our lives. Which fell on deaf ears."

I looked down and closed my eyes. "When they got to me, I resisted. That caught their attention. I guess they were looking for candidates for pokémon battling, and they found their candidate. When they made the call, I panicked. I leaped and jumped to my mama and hanged on with enormous strength. It took three men, plus a forth for them to pry me out of that cage. I only had enough time to say goodbye before they pulled me from my family forever."

I dropped to my knees and sniffed, "On really bad days, I wondered if I broke my mama's hands. I was hanging on with my own strength, not my mama's. I think I broke her hands."

Wheels crawled up beside me and gave me a hug, I hugged him back. "After you were kicked out, I grew very distrustful of Faber. I was so upset that when he tried to pick me up, I shocked him, then made a dash to the bedroom and cried for some time under the bed. I don't know what to think anymore. I've praised you, and perhaps worshipped you when watching your pokémon battles on TV for years. And for you to drop out of the blue to tell me I am your son was like a dream come true, and then I had it taken away from me."

"So you broke out of the house and chased me down."

"I didn't take anything besides my braces, not even aspirin. I had to sneak out of a window through the kitchen to get out. Once I made it outside, I came straight to Pallet Town. My arthritis pain was gone, I didn't feel hungry or dehydrated. I didn't stop for anything, I walked on my own to here. It took a long time, but I made it." He shook his head. "When I got here, I met Andy at the pokémon center. I was surprised he knew who I was, in fact he told me he was the reason why you were here. I didn't know my trainer had a file on him and he had access to it. I felt he was a window to my history. He was just telling me about the Dixierats when we heard the crash outside."

My son pressed his face against his shoulder. "I don't know how long I slipped into a trance, next thing I knew these Dixierats in question came in and I broke the news."

Andy said, "I tried warning you might pull a stunt like that, in breaking out of the pokémon center in one dramatic fashion. And did anybody listen? No, because they keep telling me that isn't in a pikachu's nature. And sure enough you broke out in one dramatic fashion, couldn't help but say I told you so."

"But how did you find me?" I asked.

"We tracked your scent," said Ray. "Took us all the way to Viridian Forest, we weren't sure how you got that far so fast. When we found you, you were screaming for Irvin, then for your mama. We figured you weren't aware."

Andy said, "We have to give you a sedative to make sure you wouldn't go off again, then we took you back to Pallet Town. I insisted we put you in a home environment this time, we didn't want a repeat."

"Glad that worked," said Professor Oak.

Ash asked, "You're hungry, Tes?"

"I was thinking of lunch before I saw you down the street, what's on the menu?"

 **. . .**

Breakfast was cooked up in the pokémon lab's pantry, we all ate outside as Professor Oak fed the presiding pokémon their usual meals. My relatives and I all ate people food, a mixture of chansey eggs and other things. I figured Andy would persuade Oak in making sure they all were fed human meals. I didn't realized how hungry I was until the mountain of food on my plate was gone, including all my water. I was already on my third glass when I finished. Nobody told me to slow down or take it easy, Andy made sure I wasn't hassled in anyway. Everybody talked about various things, stuff about Ash's journey, history, and old legends. While everybody was distracted, I snuck away from the table and walked to a secluded spot on the property where I sat down and stared at the horizon.

Kanto, in all its glory, was still beautiful as I had remembered it. But this region is no longer my home. I have people and pokémon to worry about now in Faraday Island, but not here. Finding my son was quite a small victory, though I fucked up and was bedridden for days. Finding Ash pretty much made this trip worth having, but it won't last. Ash has places to be, chasing his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master. I'm still surprised he wasn't one already. All those pokémon he had who worshipped and adored him, that alone should make him one. If he ever achieved his dream, I hope he has a plan for his end-game.

I sat there for a good long while, nobody came to have a moment with me. I could feel their eyes staring into my back, I could even hear Andy insisting them for me to be left alone. After a moment of peace, I could hear Wheel's tracks squeak behind me.

"Are you mad at me?"

"For what?" I asked.

"For me leaving Faber?"

I shrugged. "I would've done the same if my trainer kicked you out, in fact I had done so before, when your mother disappeared on me. The pain I felt was, unbearable. I lashed out on him because he was quite an idiot, I ran away for four months to get some alone time, then I came back to apologize. However I sat in bed for a few weeks just to clear my mind, I think that was the only time in my life where I wanted him by my side."

Wheels said, "I'm afraid of going back, not sure what Faber would do to me."

"What do you think he would do to you?"

"I think he's worried sick, his father made it clear to look after me in his will. I think he's taking this personally."

I said, "I'm not going to force you, but you can come with me to Faraday Island. It's a madhouse right now, but it's because of your extended family members. I'm not sure if I could carve a place for you there, but you'll have the option of getting your legs working again. But I'm not going to force it on you, in fact you might not even want to get the surgery."

"Had you ever thought about getting laser eye surgery?"

"I had my eyes checked, but I wasn't a candidate. Honestly I was hoping for that, because I'm not sure how anyone would recognize me without my eye-goggles."

"You could still wear them without the corrective lens."

"And then it would be silly, I'd rather have the excuse than not."

We sat there some time, enjoying the horizon. The others were still conversing as normal, a few laughs here and there. Wheels readjusted himself and asked, "Did your life flash before your eyes from the impending car?"

"My life is so long that there was no time for it to flash. I had only enough time to swear, and then everything broke apart."

"Did you have other near-death experiences?"

"Yes, more than I can count."

Wheels didn't add more, I understood why. I laid down and stared up at the sky. "I hate being on TV, it's hard to lead a normal life when people keep dropping by and asking for an autograph. When I get back to Faraday Island, I'm going to force the island against the wall. I'm going to have all those reruns of my pokémon battles with Irvin taken down from the network, and anything television-related banned for public viewing until me and everybody associated with Irvin and me is dead. Websites, newspapers, and radios will be spared. Just the dreaded television set, because everybody fucking watches TV."

"Do you ever watch TV?"

"Yes, I do. But when something about me comes on, I turn it off. It's all just loaded garbage, few people in the world even know me personally. I bet Andy had placed a buffer on everyone so they can avoid pissing me off."

"He does look like your trainer."

"I know, one time I even confused him as one. Not a good sign for old age, but I was pretty close to Andy. He made sure nobody pushes my buttons. Unfortunately, he's an idiot like his grandfather. Don't let the medical degrees fool you, he can take any pokémon apart and put them back together again blindfolded and yet he couldn't put his Ikea furniture together."

"You see him do it?"

"He spent five hours trying to put that damn table together, only to discover he was reading the directions upside down."

"No, but take a pokémon apart and putting it back together again?"

I paused for a moment. "No, I've never saw him do it. But I did find his handiwork. He had his little abode in Dixie National Park stuffed with mouse pokémon bi-products. Hides, skeletons, body parts, you name it. The Dixierats would take their dead to him for proper disposal, and he does all sorts of weird fucking things to them. Damn, so many necropsies done in one night."

Wheels rested his head against my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around his. "Don't worry about me leaving your life, you're going to get plenty of warning. I'm not planning on dropping dead from old age."

"That's in your control?"

"Personally, I don't think it's in anybody's control. I think-"

Ash's pikachu's screaming cut me off. I shot around and saw this big ugly meowth air balloon floating above the property. The letter "R" was marked on the front. The sight of it made my blood boil.

Wheels asked, "Dad, what's going on?"

I didn't answer him. I jumped to my feet and ran to the scene, charging my electricity as I ran.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	29. Chapter 29

_Chapter 29_

Ray managed to gather all the Dixierats and move them to a safe distance. The Team Rocket grunts muttered to themselves, they weren't expecting an ugly fuck like Ray to show up. Nonetheless, they were more interested in Ash's pikachu. The look on the boy's face was filled with determination, he must've dealt with this situation before. Well, so have I. I've been the poacher and the poached, I knew what both lives felt like.

I cannot fathom the shitty intro these grunts did. This Jessie and James, and that meowth of theirs, wasted valuable time like this was a movie. They came for Pikachu, so why not grab him and get out of dodge? They would've been out of Pallet Town by now had they not did their intro. I think that was what set me off, their lack of professionalism. I had caught Ash's pikachu before without fucking around, and these idiots were a laughing joke.

Ash had gathered his Unova team, I hadn't seen them since Soho. They hadn't changed much, and they looked like they were ready to go for one last battle. Before Ash could give orders, I came around. His team just stood there, staring at me. They knew what I was capable of, they seen what horrors I could do. Pikachu was dangling in the trio's robotic claw, being thrashed around by the arm's unstable hydraulics. The trio looked at me with curiosity. Their faces told me they have no idea who I was, looks like my reputation in the criminal organization was forgotten. Until today.

"Now who's this pikachu?" Jessie asked.

I said, "Your worst nightmare."

Before they could send their pokémon against me, I took a deep breath and charged the air around me. The air became ionized, and within a flash an electromagnetic pulse blanketed the property for a fraction of a millisecond. The hot-air balloon's engine died. No explosions, no raging fire. Nothing dramatic. The ugly meowth balloon dropped like a stone. The claw released Ash's pikachu, Volta came running up and managed to catch him before he hit the ground. The trio wasn't so fortunate. The basket clipped the building, spilling out its contents on the ground. The balloon itself deflated and rest on the roof of the pokémon lab, the meowth figure flat as a pancake.

While the two grunts were disoriented, the meowth was ready for a fight. "Hey!" the scratch cat pokémon cried in human speech. "You destroyed our balloon, you're going to get it now!"

He tried to come at me with a hand full of claws, I simply walked up and grabbed the offending hand by the wrist. The cat screamed when I used all my strength to break his wrist, then forced it back to amplify the pain. It was a grizzly sight, he won't be using that hand for a few months. Before he could slash me with the other hand, I grabbed his neck with my other hand and clamped down his airway and major blood vessels. The meowth quickly turned blue as I lifted him up in the air. My friends didn't call out to give him mercy, not even my relatives. I would've backed off if they gave me the word, but I was no ordinary pikachu.

I felt the meowth went limp, I held onto him for a full second before throwing him against the outside wall of the pokémon lab. I turned my attention to the grunts, they tried to get up and make a run for it but I raised my hand. "On your knees!"

I electrified the ground, both Jessie and James's joints locked and they hit the ground. I forced them onto their faces. For the first time in a while, I had control of someone's peripheral nervous system. It was a moment I loved to see, mankind bowing to my will. Such power would drive anyone mad.

But I wasn't mad, I was angry.

James looked up to me and asked. "Who are you?! What are you?"

I said, "Tesla Westinghouse, the Master of Electricity."

Without warning, Andy came up and whipped out a revolver out of his coat. A .38-caliber Smith & Wesson. Andy, like all Faradians, were always armed. Their time in the National Guard Reserve during their childhood instilled the habit, and the lax gun laws in Faraday Island made it easy for anyone to buy a gun. I didn't ask him why he kept a revolver in his lab coat, because that was the Faradian thing to do.

"Hands where I can see them!" he ordered, pulling the hammer back.

I heard someone come running around the corner. I turned around, and to my surprise I saw Mark and Henry come running in with AK-47s. Smugleaf and Wotter were right behind him, both were armed with easy to hold .22-caliber Ruger handguns. Both assault rifles were illegal as fuck in most parts of the world except Kanto and Faraday Island. The .22 handguns were common, but nobody expected a pokémon would be armed with one. I held my disbelief, Mark always pick a shitty time to show up.

"Looks like we're just in time for the party!" Mark cried.

"Mark?!" Ash cried.

"Hey, bud. Step aside, we got it from here!"

I walked up to James and grabbed him by the collar. "What are you doing, and how long are doing it?!"

"We're trying to catch Ash's pikachu and take him to our boss," he cried. "We've been trying for a while!"

"A while? Months? Years?"

"Yes!"

I let go and stepped back. "I had been poached by Team Rocket before, and look how I turned out. Now the tables are turned, ironically at the very placed where I was processed and shipped."

Mark asked, "You wanna kill them now? It can be arranged."

Andy raised his gun, he was in favor with Mark's idea.

I said, "Kill them, are you fucking mad? These are just petty thieves, they're not worth biting a bullet. Besides, these people have families to worry about." I turned back to Team Rocket. "Tell me, are you being well paid?"

Jessie and James shook their heads.

"Looks like you need to rethink your career choice. Empty your pockets."

"What?" Jessie asked.

"Pull out all your pokémon you have on you but don't call them out." I nodded toward the meowth. "If they come out of their poké balls, I will do much worse than what I did to your meowth here."

They fished their hands into their pockets and pulled out all the pokémon they had on them.

"What's the address to Team Rocket HQ?"

They told me.

"Okay, now get out of here. If you look back, these reserve soldiers will start doing target practice. They were trained to deal with people like you."

They stared at me for a moment. Andy raised his revolver in the air and fired. The gun sounded like a cannon, shattering the tranquil atmosphere of the region. "Move, assholes!" he barked.

And so Jessie and James ran for the hills, literally. They ran toward the edge of the property, hopped the wooden fence, and were gone within minutes. This would've been funny, had guns were not pulled.

I said, "Well, that's that."

I turned to Mark to thank him for the help, but the moment I faced him he had his AK aimed at me. He squeezed off a round, shooting me in the stomach. The military round brought me to the ground in an instant. I let out a cry, then checked for blood. Mark wasn't using real ammunition, instead he had fired a rubber bullet. He had no intention of even killing anyone. It was for intimidation, he wasn't here to cause death today. I expected Andy to come to my aid, but he backed off. At first I was confused, but then I realized he and Mark were in bed together. For a moment, I felt betrayed. My moment of glory was taken away, replaced with a knife to the back.

Whatever anger I had was gone, replaced with fear. Mark came walking up to me, his gun still glued to my head. Under Faradian gun laws and military training, you should not point a gun at anyone unless you're intending to kill them. Not inflict harm, inflict death. But Mark was using non-lethal rounds. I knew the boy was a stickler when it comes to Faraday law. After all, he was the son of a police officer. But this was different. I wanted to beg for mercy.

Mark stood over me, his gun trained to my heart. He looked at me for a split second, then raised his foot and stomped on my groin.

Do I have to explain how much that hurt?

I heard Ash scream. "Mark, stop!"

Mark said, "Easy, Ash. I'm not here to put him down."

As I laid there moaning in pain, he pulled the bolt back, ejecting the casing. He flipped the safety on and holstered the weapon on his back, then he bent down and picked me up by the arm. "After sixteen years of trying, I finally caught you. Even though the bounty was already cashed in, it's still good to finish the actual hunt."

"What?" I asked.

Mark cradled me in my arms. "I went over newspapers and online articles and forums to keep track of where you were during your outlaw years. Of course, my grandfather would not approve. But he doesn't influence your path anymore. His job is done, and now it's up to me to take over."

"So why did you shoot me?"

"You are a stubborn pikachu, I have to break you to get you to consider this."

He stroked the back of my head. "You sure have recovered from Soho, I don't even see any scars. The rubber bullets weren't necessary, but still, I don't turn against my own word."

I shot a look at Andy. "Did you know any of this?"

Andy holstered his revolver. "We had a lot of time in Faraday Island just to chat. He said, 'When I finally get where I want him, I'm gonna shoot him with non-lethals and stomp on his nuts.' I asked him why, and he said, "He rather be caught by someone he knows and trusts rather than a complete stranger.'"

I blinked. First of all I didn't even trust him, and then it hit me. We survived the shootout together back in the Soho Pokémon Center, I was forced to trust him and he was quite protective of me. He had every reason to say I trusted him because I did trust him, but why take things this extreme?

I asked, "Now what are you going to do?"

He smiled, "I'm going to take you and deliver you to someone whom you belong."

Mark turned around and asked, "Carley, bring her out now."

Mark's girlfriend came walking around. Mark's emolga, pikachu, and cheering pokémon were right behind her. Henry's raichu was by her side, seemingly pleased about himself. I wondered what was going on until I saw what Carley was holding.

In her arms was an old female pikachu. Much of her fur had fallen off, revealing exposed skin. Her ears were drooping by the ides of her head, but her eyes were very youthful.

I knew those eyes by heart, and it had been more than fifty years since I last seen them.

Carley sat her down on the grass, Mark sat me down and I ran up to her. I scanned her from head to toe. I reached out and touched her shoulders, arms, and cheeks. She reached out and touched mine, her eyes were filling with joy.

 _"Tesla, is it really you?!"_

I sobbed, "Polly!"

 **. . .**

There were few moments in my life where I was super happy, most of whom occurred in my childhood. I think this moment was the only moment where I was _that_ happy. Polly, my one and only mate, was found. She just so happened to miss me as much as I missed her. We both didn't wanna let each other go, so Andy had to step in and carry both of us. I asked him to take us back to Ash's house. Before we left, I thanked Professor Oak for his assistance. I promised him I would stay in touch, he seems okay with that despite the fact that I had a hot-air balloon crashed on his property. We left Professor Oak to tend to his business, I even waved at Ash's Unova team. They waved back, but I could tell in their eyes that they had mixed feelings about me.

Back at Ash's house, everyone gathered in the living room as usual. Delia was surprised at the three minutemen walking into her home, prompting her to ask Ash how deeply associated he was with Mark and his buddies. "I got him into this mess," said Mark. "It was my fault that I had him meet Tesla in the first place."

Andy took Polly and I upstairs into Ash's room and sat us on the bed, leaving us there to get us some much needed quality time. Polly proceed to lick my fur as I groomed hers. There wasn't much fur to groom, she had aged so much since I last seen her that I almost had trouble believing it _was_ her. _"I hope it's really you,"_ I said. _"I hope it's really you, Polly."_

 _"Hard to recognize me outside of our little box?"_ she asked.

 _"No, it's not that."_ I traced my hands around the curvature of Polly's body. It feel's different, she was thinner than I had remembered her to be. But I recognize her general outline, but barely. _"It's just that it's been so long, I don't know if I would even know it's really you anymore."_

Polly said, _"You sure? Here, try this. For old time's sake."_

Polly turned around and assumed her receiving position. Now here I can say is that when I got into _my_ position to go _cave exploring_ , I could tell right off the bat that it was Polly alright. Her glory hole was rusty, not as smooth as I had remembered. I have to keep in mind that Polly is barren now, she's done making babies but she's never done receiving . . . Fuck, I'm so horrible.

 _"Well,"_ she asked. _"What do you think?"_

I nodded. _"It's really you, but it feels like I'm scraping against sandpaper."_

She sighed, _"I was afraid of that."_

 _"I'll get some sort of lubricant in the near future. Say, you wanna be on top this time?"_

Polly's ears lit up, something I have never seen her done before. _"I always wanted to be on top."_

 _"How come you didn't ask?"_

 _"I was afraid of falling off."_

 _"You just have to master balance. Here, let me show you."_

 **. . .**

Yes, I know what you're thinking. Our first time of having sex in almost half a century was terrible. We were rusty and I had lost my touch. But I can tell you this, despite our misfortune she loved being on top. Whether or not she got pleasure out of it, I had no idea, but she was enjoying the act more than the reward. To tell you the truth, I had been sexually abstinent since the breeding contract expired. I never had intercourse or even masturbated, my sex life was over. So when I had my first orgasm in years, it felt like a vacuum cleaner had drained my gonads out.

I know that females can have multiple orgasms, I couldn't tell how many Polly could have in one sitting. I think she was done by the time I had mine. She was propped over me, her arms spread out, a big open smile stretching across her face. Polly nearly flopped over when she received my seed, I had to hold her hands to make sure she stayed on balance.

Eventually she flopped on top of me and we laid there for several minutes, catching our breaths. She still has steam, I'll give her that. This is what the scientists breed her for. I asked, _"Where did you go after Faraday Island?"_

 _"I don't know, I was flown to another lab where they did some testing. Not sure what it was, but they started weaning me off of Valium and other drugs. The thought that I would never see you again hadn't set in until I went through withdraw. This went on for a few days until my handler decided to put me back on Valium, and I was on it until your Mark friend came by to free me."_

 _"How were you sure he knew me? I never exactly trusted him for a multitude of reasons."_

 _"I caught a whiff of your scent on him, I never forgot what you smell like. And he had our great granddaughter with him, I think that's what he called her."_

I nodded. _"He saved her life from a poaching trap, she isn't bright but she's very loving."_

 _"I knew right away we were related, she had your eyes."_

 _"And she has your charm."_

Polly smiled, _"I wasn't willing to stay locked up in a lab any longer, so I went with him. It isn't that I was abused or anything. I was well treated, they even let me out to get some leg time. I wouldn't leave the lab environment on my own, it's all I knew. But I was willing to leave because you are all I had left."_

 _"What was it like seeing the sun for the first time?"_

 _"It hurts, it scares me. I nearly went blind. Mark had to blindfold me to protect my eyes, and I wasn't used to being hot. I had been in a controlled environment for all my life, the great outdoors scares me. To make things worse, I wasn't used to being moved around in cars when blindfolded. I was always drugged when being moved from one place to another, he didn't have any Dramamine and I puked all over the floor of his rental."_

I wrapped my arms around my mate. I have to admit, that was funny. I could imagine the look on Mark's face when he was forced to pull over to clean out the vomit. _"You made it here alright?"_

 _"We came by plane, then we got a rental. I was more used to riding planes, but I still felt nauseous without any drugs."_

I heard someone brush up against the door, the sound of squeaking wheels told me it was Wheels. Somehow our boy managed to climb up those stairs just to see us. Good thing Andy closed the door, we weren't exactly ready for him. Polly and I were still attached, and I wasn't willing to pull myself free because I risk spilling seed on Ash's comforter, and if that happens Delia will have a field day and Ash would be drowning in a tub of embarrassment. Fuck, I hadn't thought this through at all.

I held my breath and waited. I could see Wheels trying to peak through the gap below the door. He wasn't having much luck. After a moment of trying, he walked away. I had no idea where he went, there isn't anything worth looking up here. I breathed a sigh of relief, and then Polly clasped her mouth over mine. For a moment, I forgot about Wheels and returned the favor.

 **. . .**

A knock on the door woke us up from our nap. Polly was stirring, I managed to detach from her without leaving a mess. I found a tissue box on the nearby desk, I walked up to it, grabbed a few and began cleaning myself. "Tes," said Ray. "It's urgent!"

I tossed the tissues in the nearby trash can and walked up to the door. "It's unlocked."

Ray opened the door, his face filled with worry. Wheels was just emerging from another room, his eyes filled with sleep. He stopped and snap into attention when he saw Ray and I. "What's going on?" I asked Ray.

"We can't find Volta anywhere, and Ash's pikachu is gone!"

I stood there for a moment, letting that thought sink in. I heard a thump behind me and Polly was by my side. _"What's wrong?"_

Volta was always fond of Ash's pikachu ever since she met him. She still wore the pink handkerchief he picked out for here and always wanted to play with him. I could tell she sees something more in him. Hours before I saw her catching Ash's pikachu, and then they disappeared…

I burst out laughing, and I laughed hard. It then clicked in Ray and he started laughing too. Wheels crawled up and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"I tell you later," I said. "Volta had disappeared with Ash's pikachu, I'm sure you could put two-to-two together."

He blinked, and then he chuckled. "Ohhh."

Wheels turned his attention to Polly, he crawled up to her and gave her a hug. "Mama!"

Polly remembered what her first-born son looks like, and after seventy years they were reunited. _"My baby,"_ she cried as she cradled Wheel's head. _"Oh look how much you've grown."_

I walked up and hugged both of them. Polly and I had a few dozen children, we couldn't be with most of them. But for Wheels, we made sure we were both there for him. From that moment on, I felt I had a family again, a real family. I couldn't help but cry.

Wheels said, "Dad, what's wrong?"

I told him. "I hadn't had an immediate family unit of my own kind for almost a hundred years, but now we're together again."

Ray, being Ray, killed the mood by scooping up all of us with his good arm and hugging us. "But it's just one part of a much bigger family. Now you and Polly are back together, you both might have an easier time leading your descendants on Faraday Island!"

"Ray," I said. "We're not stress toys!"

"Oops," Ray lowered us and released is grip. "Sorry."

Polly walked up to him and rubbed her head. _"Ooh,"_ she said. _"He's so big and soft."_

"Polly," I said. "This is Rayovac, he's our grandson."

 _"But what is he? I haven't seen any chu like him before."_

Ray said, "I'm a rikachu, it's from an unnatural forth evolution. I'm not an official evolution, but it's for our own family pack. My handlers were trying to breed another pikachu with Tesla's powers. Instead they wore our genes thin and created me. I hadn't changed until after I was freed from captivity, so the scientists had no idea that their experiment were a success."

I said, "More like close enough, but I guess I have to agree."

Polly asked, _"Who's Volta?"_

"Our great-great granddaughter, she's a recent member of the family. She's actually a few weeks old. I have to feel sorry for her because she's a youngling surrounded by ancients. Right now she's with Ash's pikachu, and I have my money on what she's doing with him."

I turned toward the stairs and peaked down. "Wheels, how long did it take you to get up here?"

"A few minutes, why?"

"I'm wondering how you got up here, with your condition in all."

"I sit down and slide up, so I went up ass first."

"Very funny."

I turned to Ray. "Can you pick Polly and Wheels up? These stairs are made of wood and they can't afford to slip and fall."

Ray nodded, "Sure, I'll pick them up."

The mutant mouse pokémon crouched down and let Polly and Wheels climb up on his back. Just as we head downstairs, we heard Mark having a conversation with the others. I held up a hand to stop Ray, then we listened.

"Before I came here I went to Unova to go see my birth mother," he told Ash and his mom as he sat on the couch, his useless emolga sleeping on his lap, "my parents divorced when I was very young and I grew up with only a father. I never knew my mother, I had to look her up on the police database to get an idea who she is."

"What did you find?" Ash asked.

"I found where she lived, I had my friends sit in the car while I go up to the door alone. From what I found, she had remarried and had two kids, so I was more than eager to see this extended family. When I knocked on the door, low and behold she came to the door and answered. All I said to her was, 'Hi, Mom.' And then she slammed the door in my face."

Delia asked, "You weren't expecting that?"

"On the contrary, I was, because I looked more like my father than her. So I went back to the car and we planned our next move. I decided to sit there for the rest of the day, and wait.

"My patience was soon rewarded when I saw one of my half-brothers come walking down the road. His name was Gerald Shultz, age sixteen. I got out of the car, walked up to him and introduced myself. I told him who I was and why I was here. He wasn't as aggressive as our shared mother, but he was quite interested. He asked for some proof and I showed him a photocopy of my mother and father's wedding anniversary, a copy of my birth certificate, and a photo of her and his immediate family. He asked how I got a hold of that last photo, I told him I was granted access by the Faradian government to retrieve that information since I was related to her. Honestly, that was half-true, I had illegal access to the database because I knew my dad's password, and I had other tools at my disposal.

"I persuaded Gerald to let me into his house so I can clear things up with _our_ mother. I can tell you that the moment I stepped into that house, I unleashed a can of worms. I thought having my own pikachu out would act as some sort of white flag, since she's related to Tesla in all. But that didn't work. I wasn't sure why she was so aggressive, especially to someone she brought to the world. I know for a fact that Tesla's bounty in Faraday Island was the last straw, as my dad was appointed in tracking him down. But the riffs in their failed marriage had been around for a while. We argued for a while. I asked her what she was looking for in my dad and what persuaded her to divorce him. She told me it wasn't about him at all, in fact she told me what my dad told me. Faraday Island was too controlling for its citizens.

"Do you know that every soul born on that Island is automatically drafted into the National Guard? That was my childhood, the army. My dad played almost no role due to his job in law enforcement. I had to learn to fend for myself without the need for parents."

"So what happened between you and your mom?" asked Ash.

"She kicked me out, but not before I promised her I would be back with Tesla. She said she would call the police the next time I come back. I was tempted to bluff her by telling her I paid off the cops, but that would be taking things too far. I left, and that was that."

"So what did you learn that day?" the reporter asked.

Mark said, "One, I could've destroyed her second marriage because she never told her husband about this. And two, I realized that I never needed her in the first place."

Ray touched my shoulder. "Tes, are you alright?"

An old memory was unearthed, I walked down the rest of the stairs and confronted Mark. "I was there."

"What?" Mark asked.

"When your parents broke up, I was there, at your house in the middle of the night. I went over to your house to go fetch my box of eye-goggles. I had to tear through a hole in your house to get in, since it had dry rot at the time and your windows are bulletproof. I managed to squeeze into your house and was just about to go retrieve that box when your dad pulled up on the driveway. I hid in the kitchen cabinet as your mom confronted your father. First she asked him where was he, of course he was at work. And then they got into a heated argument. I peeked out to see how bad it was and she was hiding a gun behind her back."

"Bullshit."

I said, "It was a .38 revolver, your dad normally keeps it under his bed for personal home protection. I have no doubt you're nosy enough to find it."

"Absolute horseshit."

"I'm not bullshitting you, Mark. She pulled a gun on your father, threatening to shoot. But your dad talked her out of it, she stood there for some time and then went upstairs. She came back down and just left, and after your dad went to sleep . . . I went to check to see you were alright."

Mark said, "Dad said the box was kept downstairs in the utility closet. You came up just to check to see if I was alright, even though you didn't know me at the time?"

I said, "I may be a legendary pikachu that can turn electronics on and off at will and turn people to dust in a blink of an eye, but I was raised with a loving family. Seeing a family being broken apart is my weakness. I was just as upset when Irvin's mom disowned him and I was just as upset when your mom almost committed murder. I'm still have morals, damn it. Has anyone forgotten that?"

I felt a sharp pain in my right temple. A migraine, fuck. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to dull the pain, but it didn't do any good. Ash got up and kneeled before me. At first he was hesitant to pick me up, but I looked up at him with glistening marble eyes. "When I'm around you, Ash. I feel like a real pokémon again, and not a human being stuffed inside a malfunctioning pikachu body."

Ash picked me up and sat down at the couch, he stroke my ears for a moment, then asked. "Is that why you came here, just to see me?"

"Yes, no matter the trouble. It was a stab in the dark, if you weren't here then it would've taken me longer. But I found you, I guess I should've stayed with you throughout the rest of Unova and not waste time elsewhere."

"You can come with me to Kalos if you want."

I shook my head. "Faraday Island is under a revolution and the Dixierats have hijacked it, I've gotta get back as soon as possible. But there's a few things I need to get done. One, finding your pikachu. When did you realize he was missing?"

"Just when I saw Wheels going up the stairs, it didn't really occur to me because of all the pikachus in the house."

"Yeah, happened to me before." I stepped off of Ash's lab and stood up on the couch. "Team Rocket didn't take them, we've scared them off. So it was Volta who taken him."

"Why?"

"Simple, she loves him. She's always fond with your pikachu ever since she was a pichu. When pikachu was released from the claw when Team Rocket's balloon was disabled, she took the opportunity to snatch him and take him to a quiet spot. I'm guessing she's afraid that she won't see him again, on that notion she would have to be really hidden to squeeze out all the available time she could get."

I turned to Bruiser and Andy, both were sitting on the couch, sleeping. I whistled, both the doctor and the raichu stirred. "Guys, get up. We gotta go find Volta."

"Now?" Bruiser asked.

"Yes, now."

Ash asked, "How are you going to find her?"

"Same way she found me, by scent."

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	30. Chapter 30

_Chapter 30_

Henry and Carly were at the pokémon center, resting with Smugleaf and Wotter. Good thing they weren't at Ash's house, I don't think Delia could handle any more company. I asked Andy to keep an eye on Polly. She got upset about me leaving and started begging. I had to explain to her that I have raised Volta like a daughter and I wasn't willing to leave her behind. That convinced her, but she wasn't happy about it. Wheels wanted to tag along, but wanted his mother to come along as well. Polly couldn't bear to be outside, Wheels couldn't understand why she didn't want to spend some time in the sun. I had to explain to him she has Agoraphobia and Photophobia. His face was so confused, I don't think he had a clue about the concept about phobias. Eventually he decided to stay with Polly, I had to promise him I wouldn't become roadkill while I was away.

Ash and that reporter girl tagged along as Mark, Ray, and Bruiser left for the pokémon center. When we got there, I found that the busted window had been boarded up and normal operations were resumed. I wasn't so fond of re-entering the pokémon center after my mad exit, not to mention I still had some anxiety from being hooked up to life support. Ray and Bruiser tried coaxing me into entering the pokémon center, I was just about to argue with them about it when Mark stepped inside the pokémon center and called his friends outside.

"So what's going on, Mark?" Henry asked as his raichu followed from behind.

"We lost one of our Dixierats, we think she kidnapped Ash's pikachu but we're considering other possibilities."

Henry shook Ash's hand. "Good to see you again, Ash."

"Nice to see you too."

The reporter girl shook Henry's hand. "I'm Alexa, I'm a reporter from the Kalos region."

"A reporter, huh? We have a revolution happening at Faraday Island, the local militia could use you as a war correspondent."

"I think I'll pass."

Smugleaf walked up to me, scanned me head to toe. Wotter stood by her side. Both pokémon appeared relaxed and lively, a massive improvement from when I last saw them on Faraday Island. "So what have you been doing on your trip with Mark?" I asked.

"He took me back to our trainer's hometowns, to put some old ghosts to rest. It went well."

I noticed she had her knife on her, but her holster was different. It was a new leather holster, but was thicker and more secured. I don't know why, but a part of me didn't like her newly gained level of self-confidence. I held that thought for a moment, then said, "I'm telling you right now, it's going to be a while before you earn my trust. You may have helped get Polly back, but your role in it is questionable." I turned to Mark. "Hey, Mark. You trust her around your emolga?"

He shook his head. "No, absolutely not. I know for sure she won't harm emolga, but I trust Wotter more than her."

Smugleaf looked up her Ash, her eyes went big. That insecurity was back, I guess that self-confidence was short-lived. I said, "Smugleaf, relax. This isn't about you anymore."

She turned to me. "Huh?"

"I have a Dixierat to find, so I'm gonna be honest with you. If you were to kidnap someone for your own pleasure, where would you take them?"

She blinked, wondering what I was trying to pull. "Uh, I would take them to a secluded spot. Far from any prying eye. Basically a place where nobody would ever thought to look."

"How far would you go to get them in that place? Let's say you caught them here, how far would your little legs take you while you bear their weight on your back?"

"About a maximum of 100 meters, no further."

"Say you take them into a building like a pokémon center, which room would you use?"

"The maintenance room, or a janitor's closet. Both are places with uninteresting things, and if the day is right, I would have that room for hours. However, I would prefer an empty bed. Being on the ground or on a hard floor is uncomfortable."

"Would you take something to sleep on into a maintenance room?"

"No, too much work."

"So by your logic, we would find Volta within the nearest building where she grabbed Ash's pikachu, inside a bedroom on a bed or in a closet. Correct?"

"Yes, that sounds about right."

I processed that thought for a moment, then turned to Ash. "Let's get back to the pokémon lab, I think I know where she might be."

 **. . .**

The balloon had been bundled and stuck inside the basket. The talking meowth was gone as well as the poké balls Team Rocket had dropped earlier. We walked inside and found Professor Oak in his office. I asked if he had seen Volta. "She's the pikachu with the pink handkerchief tied around her neck, she wears it like a boy scout."

Professor Oak shook his head. "No, I haven't seen her."

"She has Ash's pikachu, we know this because we saw her catch him when Team Rocket dropped him. Now both of them are missing and I don't think both of them had gotten far."

Mark said, "The stress might have knocked pikachu out, if so he should have showed up hours ago. Which means the longer both he and Volta are missing, the more dire things become."

Tesla said, "I don't think they're in any danger. Team Rocket is not responsible, we scared them off. This is Volta's fault all the way."

Ray asked, "So where would they be?"

Professor Oak sat down his reading glasses and stood up. "There are some rooms in the pokémon lab I hadn't been in through a while. I have several medical beds that I used to treat injured pokémon. The pokémon like being here more than at the pokémon center, less work on Nurse Joy and more beneficial for pokémon."

"Have you ever bred a pokémon?" I asked.

"All the time."

"Where do you take them so they could get down to business?"

He led us down toward the back, passing a room full of poké balls. I could hear several pokémon playing outside, even a few in the nearby den. Professor Oak walked up to a door and opened it and we stepped inside. The room wasn't so impressive, but it was familiar to me. Several large white boxes sat in a row on a counter. All of them had tiny holes on the edges for ventilation. Polly and I used to spend time in boxes similar to these for breeding, these boxes were big enough for us to move around and have very comfortable padding. "When's the last time you have used this room?" I asked.

"Last week."

"All the boxes are clean?"

"With soap and vinegar."

Ash said, "I don't see any way for them to get up there, how-"

He stopped mid-sentence and pointed to the side of the counter. Several boxes were pushed together to form a set of stairs suited for small pokémon. That was all I need to know. "Everyone, step out of the room. I have to confront her on my own."

Nobody said a word, Mark and Professor Oak moved everyone out of the room and shut the door behind them. I climbed up on the makeshift stairs and onto the counter. I didn't have to check all the boxes, I could hear Volta's crying in the first one. She knew she was caught. Perhaps we startled her when we stepped into the room. She knows I'm coming. I stopped outside the box and knocked. "Volta? Babe, come on out."

No response.

"Volta, I know you're in there and I know you have Ash's pikachu as well. I'm not mad at you, in fact I'm not the person who I should be mad at you. You're not in trouble here, I'm just worried because we couldn't find you."

Nothing.

"Volta, please. I lost you once, I don't want to lose you again and I don't want to leave you behind. Please, talk to me."

The door creaked open, I pulled the door open and found Volta sobbing over Ash's pikachu. He looked like he was sleeping. I reached out toward his neck and feel for a pulse. It was there, but it was weak.

"I don't know what has gotten over me," Volta sobbed. "I just . . . I just…"

I wrapped my arms around her and he cried on my shoulder. "There there," I said, patting her on the back. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"I forced him."

"Don't worry about it."

"He struggled."

"Did he have any clue you would try something like this?"

"No, he didn't know until I brought him in here."

I peaked at Ash's pikachu. He seemed alright, just tired and sleeping. "Did he fall asleep?"

Volta said, "Yes, he did."

"Then don't worry about it, just let it out."

I think Volta still had some pichu mentality, because she tried to climb up on me. I tipped backwards, almost falling out of the box and onto the floor. I forced myself forward and I landed on top of her. "We'll walk. Come on, let me take you back to the others. You had enough drama for one day."

 **. . .**

I let the group back in and Ash reclaimed his pikachu without hassle. I urged him not to ask what happened due to Volta's mental state. We thanked Professor Oak for his time, again, and left. When we reached the street, I asked Mark what had happened to the meowth and the trio's other pokémon. "We took them to the pokémon center, they're being shipped back to Team Rocket's headquarters as we speak."

"How does that work? Team Rocket isn't actually a legitimate organization."

"I told them the meowth should know the proper channels, it's out of our hands now."

"You sure they won't try to come after us?"

Mark shrugged. "If they did, they wouldn't be a problem. This isn't a game anymore."

When we reached Ash's house, everyone returned to the main room to chat. Wheels and Polly were still on the couch, I asked them both to sit tight for a moment as I spoke to Volta in person. We both went upstairs, stepped into Ash's bedroom and shut the door. "I know why you did this."

Volta looked up at me. "You do?"

I said, "You're afraid you won't see Ash's pikachu again. I can't say I should be mad, since I too was butted against the wall in Polly's case in the day. So, did you get what you want out of him?"

She nodded. "Yes."

I wrapped my arms around Volta and cradled her head. "You ever think about your parents?"

"No, not at all."

"Did you spend any time with your father before he passed?"

"I tried, but he just wouldn't look at me. He said I looked just like her. I spend most of my time with Ray and Bruiser. The Dixie elder wanted to stay by me, he said I had your scent."

"You miss him?"

"I missed you the most, none of the other Dixierats had as much vigor as you." Then Volta said, "We were just about to consider what we should do when your letter arrived, that made us snapped, so we went looking for you. Looks like our fears were confirmed when we found you at the pokémon center."

I held her chin up. Both our eyes meet, our noses almost touching. "I'm still here, am I? But for how long? I'm possibly the last true pikachu on the planet, born in a world without human encroachment and free from direct influences. The encounters I had with humans, it was on my own terms. After Kanto, I was changed forever."

Volta asked, "How much do you know about our history?"

"I'll save it for the others, let's rejoin them."

I jumped, grabbed the doorknob, and kicked the door open. I dropped down and we both stepped back out into the hall. I could hear Ash's pikachu waking up, he sounded confused and groggy but nothing alarming. When we reached the main floor, we found the TV was on. Mark was surfing through the channels, he wasn't impressed. "Nothing outside of Kanto, this his horseshit!"

Delia snapped, "Watch your language young man!"

He shot a look at her. "Do you even know the struggle of the lack of information, none of these channels are telling us what's going on outside of Kanto. A meteor could hit the backside of the planet and we wouldn't even know until the sky starts raining killer shooting stars."

I asked, "Is there any word about me on the TV?"

"No, nothing incriminating. That's for sure."

Mark kept changing channels until he found himself on the local weather channel. Big lightning bolts were plastered all over the map. "Hmm, it says here there's a Thunderstorm Warning near Route 2."

I had Volta sit down on the couch by Wheels. Henry and Carly were sitting on chairs. Henry's raichu was on his gut and napping. Ash was sitting in a chair, his pikachu cradled in his arms. I stared at the TV for a moment, watching as the news anchor made a feeble attempt to accurately predict the weather. "I remember how the weather systems get pretty bad on Faraday Island, the occasional tropical storms were bad. However, the winter storms felt like the end of the world. I remember several occasions where I was snowed in with friends and strangers inside public buildings, such as the mall and my trainer's gym. Getting snowed in at home was not as bad, but it was still critical. We had to keep the fireplace going non-stop or we risk freezing. Our electric heaters helped a lot but they require a lot of energy, and if the power grid goes down we had to conserve whatever amp we had in our energy bank."

"How do you deal with these winter storms?" Mark asked.

"Back in my childhood, this isn't usually a problem because I am hibernating. My body core temperature can get as cold as a refrigerator, but with the combined body mass and heat of my family I can make it out alright. But ever since I first arrived in Faraday Island, things weren't as pleasant. As embarrassing as it is, I thought it was the end of the world when I saw snow for the first time. When I'm outside in the cold, I could feel the freezing air biting deep into my core. Few things worry me in this world, but the freezing cold will always be my most concern over anything. I'm a small pokémon, the cold will kill me within minutes if I don't find shelter."

"It was hard for you to adjust?" Ash asked.

"I was raised to hibernate, so I found myself sleeping throughout these winter storms for unusually long periods of time. One time I found myself sleeping for seven days straight throughout the worst winter storm in Faraday City, my friends were so worried they thought I froze to death. My body core temperature was three-point-four degrees Celsius, Med had to reassure everyone I wasn't dead because I was obviously showing signs of life. They woke me up by placing the heating blanket over me, cranking it up to max, and using the space heater to warm me up as much as humanly possible. I swear I was so hot that my tongue was dry, which forced me out of slumber."

"You were okay?" Andy asked.

"No, I wasn't okay. I was pissed because they woke me up. It wasn't until I cooled down and gotten something to drink where Irvin explained to me that everyone thought I had died. Since I was the only wild pokémon among the group, I had experience in hibernation. Everyone else did not."

"How did you hibernate?" Andy asked.

"I was away from the others because I wanted alone time. So while everyone was sitting by the fire, I went and had a nap in Irvin's bed. I was bundled up under three thick layers of blankets, guess that wasn't good enough."

Smugleaf joined the conversation. I was a bit surprised, since she was always quiet. She had something to add. "Winter time is usually bad for the PRA. I had to go with other pokémon to find fuel for our generators. It was a matter of survival. Without heat, our bodies would freeze. I'm a reptile here, cold-blooded. I can't recall how many heat-packs I went through just to keep my body temperature up."

Ray said, "I never slept through the winter, Bruiser and I always stayed at Andy's house. The Dixierats never really understood hibernation. Some mastered it, others went through whole winters fully functioning. Regardless, we would get a few chus suffering frostbite. Sometimes one would freeze to death."

How did we get into a conversation about winter storms is anyone's guess. We were interrupted when someone knocked on the door. It sounded urgent. Delia got up and answered it. Low and behold, it was Faber. He was a far cry from anger since I last saw him. He looked worried and desperate. Wheels's eyes went big, he tried to hide but I touched his shoulder. _"Wheels,"_ I said in pokémon speech. _"You better take care of this now, you can't run from it forever."_

Wheels gave a nod, but said nothing. He sat back down as Faber told Delia his stress. "My name is Jack Faber, I'm looking for a pikachu. He's old and half-paralyzed, I've been looking for him for days now."

I called out. "He's here, waiting for you! Delia, let him in."

Delia stepped aside and Faber rushed in. He stopped for a brief second, flabbergasted at the sight of Ray. Then turned toward my son. "Wheels, I'm sorry."

Wheels said nothing.

"I didn't have much of a choice, Wheels. Interpol showed up and questioned me. Thankfully you had left when you did, I think they had every motive to detain you. But still, you could've gotten ran over or snatched by a predator taking advantage of your condition."

I could tell he was ready to backtalk, probably ready to state his rights. As much as I agree with him, I equally agree with Faber. Wheels had gotten off lucky, but luck is finite. "Wheels," I said. "I can tell you from experience he is right. You're in your seventies and you're ready to fall apart. My trainer was just as worried when I disappeared without warning."

Wheels said, "He's not my trainer."

"Andy isn't even my trainer but he's still family. Your trainer's son took the delivery of taking you in. Most people would've abandoned you because of your condition, because a disabled pikachu is no good for any trainer wanting to pokémon battle. I appreciate you for finding me, but I would be just as worried if you disappeared. If Faber here hadn't taken you in, I wouldn't be able to track you down and your life may be more miserable than before. Have you ever thought of that?"

Wheels sniffled. "No. No I hadn't."

Faber reached down and scooped Wheels up. My son cried in his shoulder as he scratched his back. Andy got up and shook Faber's free hand. "I'm Andrew Westinghouse, I'm Irvin's grandson."

"How long have you known Tesla?"

"Since childhood. He watched me grew up, and he watched my father grew up. He's been around for generations. I can tell you that the only way to get him to trust you is to occasionally hint you like him, and not just dump everything at once on his lap. He hates attention thanks to my grandfather."

"He showed days before at my house asking for Wheels."

"I know, I dropped him off at your house and he told me to come here. In fact, I was the one who brought him here."

"How did you know my address?"

"I had access to a databank of mice pokémon, it was specifically made for Tesla's descendants so they could keep track of the gene pool. All I had to do was locate his first-born son and your father's name came up, and I had access to all the information associated with Wheels. And believe me, I know about your father's car racing, I didn't expect Wheels to be paralyzed."

"How long have you been searching for him?"

"For thirty years, I spent most of that time trying to gain access to the damn database. I knew that computer programming class would come in handy."

I said, "I had an accident when I got here, driver ran me over. Both of us were distracted. Wheels had a meltdown because I almost died."

Faber glanced at me. "You don't look like you had been run over. In fact, you don't have any scars or stitches anymore."

"I had nanobots in my system, they went into overdrive to literally piece me back together. I feel better than before, but it took a while to get to that point."

Faber glanced at Polly, who was just sitting there staring at the wall. "Who's she?"

"She's my mate, Polly. Wheel's mother. Mark Kissinger here found her and broke every law possible to get her here. That was a nice bonus, I hope he didn't leave a paper trail coming here."

"I made sure I didn't," he said.

Delia set up a spare chair and Faber sat down. He sat Wheels on his knee, holding him with both hands and said, "Well, I'm glad you're okay, Wheels. I didn't expect you to make it this far."

Wheels said, "I can't stay in your house, I don't want to spend the rest of my days sitting on that couch. Faraday Island has technology that could help me regain use of my legs, and I have family there."

Ray crawled up and shook Faber's hand, he was a bit surprised in seeing him. "What are you supposed to be?" he asked.

"Good question," said Ray. "The scientist who brought me into the world intended to create another pikachu like Tesla. They were trying to narrow down the genes who made who he is. Instead they got a sterile pikachu and transferred me to non-related lab experiments. I changed after I got out of captivity, they didn't know their project was successful."

"But what are you?"

"Part pichu, part pikachu, and part raichu. I'm the first of a new evolution of rikachus. There could be more, because we all were once normal mice pokémon. There's no telling how many more potential candidates in the world. But when they evolve, it's quite a light show."

I said, "His name is Rayovac, my grandson, and he tries my patience. When we first met, he surprised me by jumping out of some bushes. I kid you not I pumped more electricity into him that could kill more than ten people and he bounced back up like nothing even happened. Beware, he's that powerful."

"Not really," he said. "I may be bred for pokémon battling, but I wasn't trained in pokémon battling. Tesla actually kicked my ass days earlier for pissing him off. As strong as I am, I cannot match the power he could dish out."

"Ray, you don't need to use your electricity. You've could have used brute strength and incapacitate me with one blow with little effort. I have to use a lot of energy to make that same impact."

"How can I do that? I didn't inherit your aggression."

That moment weighed heavily on my mind for days, weeks, months, and even years. Most Dixierats didn't wanna challenge me because they didn't have the heart for it, and those who do quickly regret it. I'm never enthusiastic in battling, so I broke a lot of unspoken rules when I get into one. I'm retired from that life now, but there were a few things that needed to be done for my long gone childhood.

Ash asked, "So what are you going to do now, Tes?"

I said, "I think I have one relic of my childhood, but its back at my old burrow. I wanna go dig it up."

"What is it?" Bruiser asked.

"Remember that story where I told you about the neodymium magnet that I stole from a pawn shop to use against a bully who beaten up my brother?"

"Yes, I do."

"I buried the magnet near my burrow, I wanna go see if it's still there." I turned to Mark. "And there's a thunderstorm warning in effect?"

Mark changed back to the weather channel. "Yes, there is."

I said, "When I was young, my parents always took my siblings and I to this chu gathering place during severe thunderstorms. Legend has it that if a mouse were to be struck by lightning, that chu would lead all the mice pokémon on the planet. I personally think that story is bullshit because of all the chus that get roasted from the lightning. But this is an old tradition my family from before had been doing for generations, I want to perform this ritual one last time."

Mark turned off the TV and sat the remote down on the coffee table. "I got a van outside, we'll take that and head straight for Route 2."

 **. . .**

The van in question was not inconspicuous, it was a simple SUV fit for a family of five. I frowned when I saw the guns Mark had stashed away, he had more firepower in the van's hidden compartments to supply a small army. Mark covered most of them with blankets, but he couldn't do much about the smell of oil. Turns out we have too many people and pokémon. The van can safely hold seven people, but there was sixteen of us. We decided to give all seven humans a seat, while all the pokémon had to sit in the gaps and crawlspaces. Ray had the small trunk compartment to himself, Bruiser and Henry's raichu squeezed a spot behind the driver and front passenger seats, Ash's pikachu sat on his trainer's lap, I sat in Andy's, and everyone else squeezed a spot in the remaining space. It wasn't safe, but Mark was an expert driver. I trust his driving skills more than his shooting.

Delia stayed behind, watching us as we drove off. As we drive down Route 1, I was concerned about the Officer Jenny that occasionally patrols the roads. If she has a good eye, she can spot our cramped vehicle when we drive past her. I hope Mark has a good excuse about the smell of gun oil in the car. If the Officer Jenny catches a whiff of it and recognizes it, everybody in the car would be in deep shit. I know Mark wouldn't hesitate to have a shootout with Officer Jenny, but having Ash in the car would complicate things. I could see a .38 revolver sitting in the cubby hole by the driver side door. Knowing Mark, he would've load it up with armor-piercing rounds. No need for hollow-points, Mark knows what to hit.

He drove through Viridian City without a problem. No Officer Jennys in sight. I didn't see any Interpol or KRP agents walking around either, so that was an added bonus. Once we were on Route 2. Mark kept driving until I told him to stop. Instead of parking in the middle of the road, he drove the van off the road and into a shady area of the forest. He engaged the emergency brake and killed the engine. "Okay, we're here."

We all got out and took a moment to stretch our legs, then I took lead. I followed the way back to the burrow via memory as everyone else followed behind. Wheels had no trouble walking the natural terrain on his medical skates, but I was worried about Polly. Andy held her for most of the way, even wrapped a blindfold around her to keep her from being overwhelmed from the large space of the outdoors. So far she was doing fine, I think she was more than eager to see where I grew up.

I found the burrow again without retracing my steps. I took a moment to let the sight of my old childhood home sink in as my Dixierat family surveyed the site. "It feels strange and foreign," said Bruiser. "Similar to how the Dixierats build their shelters but this one was well-made."

"I had to dig it out the last time I was here," I said. "I was relying on memory to restore the burrow."

"Your parents built this?" Ray asked.

"No, it goes back generations. We had no idea who really first built it, it's a shame to see it abandoned now."

Andy sat Polly down beside me and took off her blindfold. She blinked as she scanned the burrow from top and bottom. I watched as she crawled up into the entrance and stuck her head in, then backed away. _"You don't wanna go inside?"_ I asked.

Polly shook her head. _"There's so much dirt everywhere, I can't stand having it between my toes."_

At first I was confused, and then I remembered. She was a lab rat, and I'm a wild pokémon. I didn't notice the differences between us until we were together outside the lab environment. Polly brushed up beside me and stayed close. _"But it sure is quite a romantic spot for quality time."_

I said, _"I was born in that burrow, this place had seen a lot of sex and births for years."_

Ray rushed up and squeezed himself into the burrow, he poked his head out and looked at me with these marble eyes of his. "There's a lot of space in here."

Bruiser crawled up to the burrow and stuck his head in it. "Yeah, this is better designed than the Dixierat burrows. They didn't dig it downward, this one was dig up and into the hill. No chance of rain pouring into this burrow and washing out the residents."

Volta crawled up and peaked into the burrow, then stepped right in. "Feels warm and safe."

I walked around the burrow, Polly stayed close as the other Dixierats climbed out of the burrow to rejoin me. "These two graves here belong to my grandmother and my uncle, both have unique and interesting stories. Both stories involve cannibalism, those were tough times."

Ray walked up to one of the graves and sniffed the stones that served as markers. "We're here to dig them up?"

"No. Not them, the magnet. Were you listening?"

Ray said, "Oh, uh where's the magnet?"

I walked to the other side of the burrow. It didn't take me long to sense the ancient magnet's magnetic field. I crawled up to the spot where I had buried it a century before and started digging with my hands. It had gotten deeper from decades of erosion, but it was there. Bruiser offered me a small stone and I used that to scoop out more dirt and Ray helped by moving it out of the way. The humans watched in curiosity as I dug a hole big enough to fit myself in. "I don't recall the magnet being this deep. I buried it in a shallow hole, capable for what my pichu body could do at the time. This is going to take a while."

I dug deeper, dug wider. I kept digging until I saw the dirt started giving way. I leaped up and pressed my hands against the dirt and felt the metal surface of the magnet between my fingers. "Okay, I got it. Everyone get back, this thing is still strong."

I pulled the damn magnet out of the hole. It was fighting me, trying to hug my face. I got the metal puck out of the hole and showed it the others. It was still metallic-like, and still strong as ever. I wasn't sure how it was able to hold its magnetism after all these years. I forced the magnet down, trying to keep it contained. But it was straining my arms.

"Stand back guys," I said. "This is fighting me."

The Dixierats took a step back, Henry's raichu stepped forward trying to get a better view of the magnet. Bruiser asked, "So why do you have this magnet again?"

Just when he said that, the magnet slipped through my hands and smashed Rai Rai in the cheek. I swear by my own tail I did not do that on purpose, but my reputation about my personal prejudice of raichus gave me no credibility. Rai Rai screamed and toppled over, Henry rushed to his aid. "Holy shit!"

I said to Bruiser. "Well, this is why."

Next thing I know Ray got too close and his face got sucked in by the magnetic field. Volta yelped and tried to help Ray, but got stuck to the magnet. Bruiser played it smart and stayed as far away as possible, but was no less horrified. Polly didn't need to be reminded, she crawled up Bruiser and pressed her body against his side for comfort. Wheels just sat there on his butt. My aging son showed no reaction, I could see him trying not to laugh.

Mark laughed. "Reminds me of a porno shoot gone wrong."

I barked. "Why do you compare this to porn?! That begs the question, what gave you that idea?!"

"I found a stash of poké porn the PRA brought with them from Unova, they tried a whole list of interesting concepts."

I glared at him. "Why did you tell me that?!"

"You wanted an answer so I gave you one."

Ray said, "I hate to be rude but can one someone please give us a hand, this magnet doesn't wanna let go of us."

Volta cried, "It hurts!"

I reached out and grabbed the neodymium magnet and gave it a charge, the magnet released its hold on the chus and I pulled it safely away from them. They all got up and massaged their cheeks. Henry checked Rai Rai's face for any broken bones. Ray pressed his stubby hand against his cheek and checked for fractures. "I'm fine, nothing broken."

"You okay, Volta?" I asked.

Volta nodded. "Yeah, nothing's bruised."

As Andy walked up, I handed the magnet to him. "How did you do that?" he asked.

"Electricity creates magnetism and magnetism creates electricity. How simple is that?"

Andy inspected the magnet, rubbing off some dirt with his thumb. He shoved the magnet into his pocket and checked the affected chus. I watched as he raised up Ray's head and shined a penlight into his eye. "Heavy magnetism and electricity can do all sorts of things to an electric-type pokémon." He checked Ray's blink reflex and the dilation of his pupils. Then he checked Rai Rai and Volta. "They got lucky, an electric-type would get seizures, overcharge. Even coma and possible paralysis from a magnet that powerful. You said you got this thing from a pawn shop, Tesla?"

"Yes, I had. Weird thing is that I don't remember breaking in and finding the thing, I just found myself walking away with the magnet in my hands."

"You could've had a seizure and short-term memory loss from the magnet. That magnet should've overwhelmed your system."

I said, "Andy, I appreciate your concern but it didn't. If it had, I wouldn't be here talking to you and you wouldn't even exist."

Andy thought for a moment. "Good point."

Thunder crackled in the distance. The storm was coming in fast, time was running out. I turned to the others and said, "We can turn back now and leave before the storm hits, you don't have to stay. If you wanna come, I must ask you stay clear of the wild pikachus, out of sight and downwind. If the chus catch a whiff of you, they're going to panic. So what's it going to be?"

Mark, Henry, and Carley's intentions were clear, but Faber was questionable. He was old, sure, but roughly around the same age as Andy. Ash and the reporter girl seemed confident about sticking with me.

I asked, "Faber, what's your choice?"

He shrugged. "I don't even know what to do anymore, I guess I'll come along. Perhaps I will be seeing one last lightshow before retirement."

Ash's pikachu squirmed and his trainer let him down. He was wary when approaching me, but he figured I wouldn't harm him. The mouse pokémon crawled up to me and asked, _"So what are you planning do when you find this chu gathering?"_

I told him. _"Reach for the sky."_

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	31. Chapter 31

_Chapter 31_

As I was leading the way to the old chu gathering spot, I sat on Ash's shoulder as his pikachu sat on the other. I had a lot of things that I want to get off my chest, so I had to be frank with him. "I don't know what I was thinking, coming here not knowing what to expect. I had found my son, but he's old and it's way too late for me to make any long-term effect in his life. He grew up without me, he has to live with that. Polly, I don't know, she just dropped out of the blue. This is all way too much for me."

The other humans and pokémon were well away from us but still within sight. They had more than enough courtesy to give us space. The humans were well out of earshot, but the pokémon can hear us well. Nothing I could do about them, but that didn't matter. If they want to eavesdrop, that's fine. They can keep a secret. I don't know what I was trying to accomplish. Pokémon rights or banning pokémon battling. I've seen and felt the whole process, I really did. Most trainers have no idea what pokémon really have to go through, let alone all of humanity."

Ash asked, "What do you know?"

"Torture, abuse, injury, pain, all patched up with bandages. You would think that being love-tapped by Nurse Joy would make any pokémon feel better, but that's not good enough. I had no large-scale control over my life. Just small-scale, like raising and training younger pokémon and loyalty from close associates. I'm talking about where I want to live, where I want to go. Freedom, the grand-scheme of things."

Ash said, "I haven't really told anyone this . . . Team Rocket, that Team Rocket that dropped by in the balloon. They built a machine where any pain the pokémon, the trainer would feel. They put me into the machine and I felt it. I felt it. It was horrible."

I blinked, he knew all along what I was dealing with, and yet he is still trying to become a Pokémon Master? "What? How come you haven't told me this before?"

"I didn't know what was really going on with you until Soho, it clicked when I was stuck in that cell. I only wish I had the time to tell you."

I sighed, "What really worries me is the pokémon you leave behind at home, when they're done serving you for that region. What they want is up to them. I'm sure they can move on just fine but what about your pikachu? He made a lot of friends but may not see them again. I watched my friends grow old and died, and those who didn't . . . you know what happened to them."

"You used to work with Team Rocket. With all the suffering pokémon you saw, you ever felt you could save any of them?"

I said, "I knew so much about pokémon psychology that I don't think they can be saved. You can free them, rehabilitate them, but some just couldn't be saved. They have a deep hatred of humanity from their abuse. It isn't about good or evil, it's because of what humans can do and what pokémon are limited to. Even though I'm educated and powerful, I'm still at a disadvantage because I'm small and have tiny hands. I'm trapped within my own body, the power I have is too much. I can't control my strength, it almost consumed me. The only way I keep my moral compass aligned is getting alone time, away from all the drama. Now I've lost it, any good done will have an equally bad opposite happen."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Say you have a dam that was built. It drained the water downstream, killing thousands of pokémon living in the water and dehydrating hundreds of thousands more. It would be the right choice to destroy the dam and return the flow of water, right?"

"Yes."

"But there's a catch, a deadly one. Let's say over the years homes and settlements were built along the dried river bed, and by destroying the dam you destroyed all those homes as well. You restore a lifeline of water to the wild pokémon living in the area, but you massacred a lot of people, and those who survived have nowhere to sleep the following night. So is it better to just leave the dam alone to kill pokémon, or destroy the dam to kill people? Whatever the decision is made, would that really benefit the other? So let's say you leave the dam alone, the homes are built. All those wild pokémon, those who survived at least, found their way into these homes to live out the rest of their days. Though some pokémon couldn't adjust, most would be living happy lives. If that dam is destroyed, not only people and homes would be washed away but as well as any pokémon living with them. With the settlements gone, the wildlife would return. But they cannot replace the diversity that was lost prior to the dam's completion. It wouldn't be the same, that river would be dead for thousands or millions of years until life diversifies enough to fully restore the ecosystem. And by then the whole incident is forgotten and the mistake is doomed to be repeated."

"You make these kinds of decisions every day?

"I'm afraid yes, there were so many mutual decisions that I just don't even care anymore."

The sky was getting darker by the minute, eventually it settled into a dark gray color. Thunder crackled in the distance, soon they will be much closer. I wonder if I was wasting everybody's time. The chu gathering spot could be abandoned, but from what I was told by my mother, mice used it from one generation to the next. I wasn't getting my hopes up, I still think this shit is stupid as fuck. But it's my roots, and I take comfort in it.

We walked up a small hill, downwind, and I got a whiff of this horrible stench. I knew that smell by heart. Wild pikachu shit, freshly deposited. We were getting close. Ash reached the top of the hill and almost literally stumbled into a cluster of mice pokémon. These weren't like the dumbshits of my family, these were wild pokémon. None of the pokémon act and talked like their ancestors, but I can find a few things that never changed. Family groups cluster together, some even mingled with each other. Lovebirds, loners, brothers, sisters, siblings and cousins. I wondered if any of them were descendants of any of my grandparents, but that sense of extended family was a longshot.

The others joined us and we all got a look at the chu gathering. It was quite a sight. I jumped down from Ash's shoulder and said, "Okay, this is the spot. Sit tight, this may take some patience."

As I walked into the cluster, I could overhear Andy said, "It looks like he has finally returned to his people."

Even though I was wearing welding goggles, I blended right in. I tried to look for any older chus. The noise level was high, there were around a hundred yammering voices bombarding my ears. It sounded just as I had remembered it from my pichu years, but the dialects were slightly different. I wondered if any of these chus had escaped from captivity or were released by their handlers.

There were a few raichus present, most of them had an average of a dozen pichus following them around. These mother and father raichus were more protective of their children than pikachu parents. They sure gave me a look when I got near. I was a nobody, an outsider they had never seen before. Most of them were not interesting enough to mingle around with. I kept scanning and found who I was looking for. A lone raichu sat in a clearing, no mice pokémon flock around her. She had white hairs, and one of her eyes has a cataract. She didn't look too good, I think she was crying. I took a risk and crawled right up to her and asked, _"Are you alright?"_

The old raichu gave me a curious look. It didn't take me long to notice she was born in captivity. I could tell by the way her hide folds over by her body. She must have lost a lot of weight since being released, I wonder if she misses her fat, sugar, and salt diet.

 _"Eh, a pikachu? An old pikachu? I couldn't remember the last time I was a pikachu, it had been so long."_

 _"Are you alright?"_

The raichu shook her head. _"No, I'm not. I had a trainer once, he died, next thing I knew I was out here with no family or anyone for support. I feel alone out here."_

 _"I lost my folks from poachers, not far from here. A long time ago."_

 _"Oh, you're really an older pikachu. Not too many of those around, not even as many as old raichus."_

The raichu stinks like manure, I was guessing she hadn't bathed in a long time. I'm going to assume she couldn't take care of herself, because she was way too thin for her body type and she was depressed. I made a mental note to bring her to a pokémon center later, assuming I can talk her into it.

I said, _"If you don't mind, I can give you company for today."_

The raichu smiled, and she almost had no teeth left. _"That's nice of you."_

I showed her my own rotten teeth, and we both laughed.

The skies crackled above, the chus around me started going nuts. One by one they started sticking their hands up in the air and screaming to the clouds for lightning to strike them. I stepped away from the raichu and merely stared at the sky. Lightning flashed, followed by thunder. I felt some rain, and I think I saw a few hailstones fall. I could feel the sheer power of the thunderstorm above me. It was coming down, lightning was getting ready to strike. I just stood there and waited for lighting, and honestly I was hoping for a crispy pikachu because I wanted to see the stupidity of these mice for coming here.

Next thing I knew, a bright white flash of lightning came down from the sky and struck me. I didn't feel pain or comfort, just power. The lightning changed from white to purple, I got in a stance and start drawing power from the storm. I put up quite a show for my group and for the wild pokémon around me. I think they can only see my silhouette, I can imagine it looked almost like the Faradian flag. Purple background and all. After a few short seconds, there was a puff of smoke and it was all over. I stood there, the air reeking of ozone and burnt fur. I stared at my hands, nothing was really burnt. I looked up and saw all those mice pokémon staring at me. Some had eyes of amazement, others were filled with horror. I think they were trying to wrap around their heads that the old legend they were told of generations of a legendary pikachu had finally come true.

My Dixierat family started running out of the woods toward me. The wild pokémon around me cleared way as they approached. "You're okay?" Volta asked.

I looked at my hands and charged them, purple sparks arched between my fingers. I killed the charge. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Ray asked, "You feel any different?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't. Curse the ass bag who first told this legend, this was all just a waste of time."

Bruiser said, "But that lightning should've cooked you, maybe even kill you. You're really a legendary pikachu!"

"True, but do I really need to be one?"

No one had an answer ready for me. I looked around, all the chus were still in amazement. A few had diverted attention from me to gaze at the rikachu monstrosity. Ray crawled up to the nearest pikachu and scooped it up. It panicked as he gave it a hug. "Oh, you're so adorable!"

 _"Help me!"_ it cried. _"Somebody help me!"_

"Ray," I barked. "Drop him!"

Ray dropped him as ordered. The pikachu sprinted into the clearing and disappeared from sight. The other chus weren't sure what to do. Here are a bunch of chus, outsiders within their commune, bringing a legend to life. I stared at the mice pokémon for a moment, then turned toward the clearing back to the others. I had lost all incentive in moving back into Kanto. Everything I knew was gone, only existing in memory. I wasn't willing to stay within the past. These chus don't need me here, but I have family elsewhere who need me. "Come on, guys," I said. "Let's go, we're done here."

 **. . .**

The thunderstorm started dumping rain when we got back into the car. We all squeezed back into our usual spots, but we didn't leave right away. Mark sat in the driver's seat, gripping the steering wheel with both hands. He glanced at the rear-viewed mirror and adjusted so he could see me. "So everything is gone."

I said nothing.

"Are you going to be alright?"

I said, "I'm going to assume it's too late for me, but for the Dixierats there's still hope. Let's get out of here before we attract attention."

Mark turned the van around and we drove toward Viridian City. I had Mark stopped outside of Faber's house so we can drop him off. When we stopped outside his house, Wheels gave Faber a hug. "Will you come see me, maybe even call or write to me?"

"I'll see if I can take the time, but not any time soon. I wished my dad had said goodbye."

Heavy rain pelt the roof of the van. Faber hanged onto Wheels for one last minute, then sat him in Carley's lap. "Bye, Wheels. I hope I see you again."

"Bye, old friend."

Faber opened the door and got out. Andy reached out and shut the door behind him. Now with an empty seat, Ash got up from the back seat and moved up. He sat down in the vacated passenger seat and buckled in. Mark shifted the gear in drive and we drove back to Pallet Town. The sky got so dark that I assumed night had arrived. Mark pulled up to Ash's house and parked the van. I leaped off of Andy's lap and hugged the boy. "Please visit me, and especially attend my funeral. I outlived most of my friends and my social circle is in disarray. We'll be sure to fix up my old trainer's farm so you would have a place to stay."

Mark said, "Wherever you are in the world, if you need help, call me. I'll be sure to send someone or come myself to sort out whatever mess you are in. If you need shelter, don't hesitate to come to Faraday Island. We're ready for most disasters coming our way."

"Thanks for the offer," said Ash. "I hope I won't need it."

"I'm your ace in the hole here, I might be your last resort. Just don't get yourself into a jam and you should be alright. Have a good night, Ash."

I gave Ash's pikachu a hug. _"Bye, youngin. Good luck on your adventures."_

 _"Good luck on your retirement."_

I guess we both understand each other, good. I jumped off of Ash and he opened the door, that reporter girl got up and followed Ash out of the car and jogged straight to his house. Andy shut the side door and I watched Ash disappeared into his house. With more space available, Ray climbed out from the trunk and sat down at the back seat. Carley sat down Wheels and moved up to the spare seat on front. Bruiser took her seat as Wheels sat next to her.

"Where are we going to sleep tonight?" I asked.

"There's a hotel not too far away, I had made reservations there beforehand."

"Well, let's go. I need to get some sleep."

 **. . .**

The hotel was enclosed, not open-spaced. It was a high-quality hotel, fairly expensive. Filled with all the comforts humanity can provide. Mark had rented two conjoined hotel rooms, we had access to four beds and two showers. When we got in, the air-conditioner was running. It felt like warm butter. I was more than eager to hop into one of the showers. My Dixierat family piled in with me. Soap and suds were exchanged and thrown everywhere. I took care in grooming Polly as she was getting a bath. Ray proceeded to scrub Volta and Bruiser clean. Wheels had his leg braces removed. He sat on the ground, managing his own fur. His mother crawled up and helped groomed his fur. I just kept grooming her fur, I wanted to make sure she was as clean as her younger days.

We later got out and dried off with towels and hair blowers. We only had two hair blowers, so we had to pass it around to make sure everyone was clean. I took one of the blow driers and focused it on Ray. I wanted to make sure his fur was dry because he's bound to get into everything, I didn't want to deal with soaking furniture. We then unplugged the hair driers and stepped out of the hotel rooms toward the lobby. The hotel had its own café and restaurant, Andy took delivery of paying for the meals. Since it was a buffet we got a little greedy. I swear on that night I had never been so full before and since.

To save space, all of the Dixierats piled up in the same bed. I watched as Mark called out his pikachu and two cheering pokémon. He took them to the restaurant to get them something to eat. Mark later came back with his four pokémon in his arms. They were all sleeping, tuckered out from dinner. He sat his pokémon on the bed next to us as Carley slipped in beside him. I adjusted myself to get myself comfortable. Ray and Bruiser took up one half of the bed and everyone else took up the other. I helped Wheels get his leg braces off and I pulled him up beside his mom. Polly welcomed him with open arms. The look on Wheels's face told me he must be having the best time in his life.

Smugleaf and Wotter had found a place with Andy in the other room. Henry got his own bed for him and Rai Rai. Once we were all comfortable, we killed the lights and went to sleep.

 **. . .**

When the internal clock in my head chimed 5:30AM, I woke up. The world was just starting to get bright. I was surrounded by my relatives, all were sleeping peacefully. I turned to Ray, he let out an occasional snore as he slept. I climbed up on his body to check on Mark. He lay dead asleep with the rest of his pokémon. They were bundled under his arms, huddled close to him for warmth and protection. I got of Ray and crawled to the foot of my bed. I jumped down, the floor was cold as an autumn fog. I jumped onto the hotel chair, then on the hotel table so I could get a peek out the window. The sky was just turning bright blue. An overcast day. I like these days when the clouds block out the entire sky. I always hated direct sunlight, it burns my retinas.

I heard Mark let out a yawn and sat up. I recalled he was part of the Faraday National Guard reserve, I wondered how many strings he pulled just to get Polly and himself here. He climbed out of his bed and scooped up his sleeping pokémon. He took care not to shake or jar them due to the risk of waking them. But his pokémon were heavy sleepers, a fire alarm wouldn't wake them up. I watched as he carried his pokémon toward the hotel room door, opened it and stepped out into the hall. When the door closed I jumped off the table and sprinted to the door. I jumped, grabbed the doorknob, twisted it and kicked the door open. I dropped down and stuck my head out into the hall. Mark was already at the end of the hallway, he approached the emergency stairwell and opened the door, then proceed down to the main level. Typical Mark, he never liked elevators because anyone could get stuck in them. No wonder he chose the rooms to be on the 2nd floor of the hotel. High enough to be off the ground and low enough to jump down in case of an emergency. Go figure.

I slipped out of our hotel room and dashed down the hall. I made it to the stairwell door, I leaped on top of the doorknob and twisted it, then kicked the door open like how I did to the hotel door. I got the door open ajar and crawled inside, and there was Mark, leaning against the wall of the handicap refuge area. I frowned, he knew I was coming.

"I guess I figured you out after all," he said. "Nice to see you can still take care of yourself."

He was wearing a white t-shirt, a pair of pajama pants, and black polyester socks. His pokémon continued to sleep in his arms, unaware of the world around them. I asked, "Are your pokémon still sleeping?"

He said, "They're late sleepers, normally I would leave them in bed to keep on sleeping while I go get breakfast. But I'm taking them with me just in case, I don't want them getting panic attacks when they noticed I'm gone."

Mark started down the stairs and I followed behind him. I fought the urge to push him down the stairs, I seriously would've killed him if it wasn't for his relation with Matt and for his close association with one of my relatives. I think he had anticipated that, because he had shifted some of his pokémon to his other arm and grabbed the safety rail with an iron grip. "You're still mad at me?"

"How can I not be mad at you?"

"How much do I have to sacrifice to even get you to smile?"

"A lot, but that's just to cool down my temper."

We reached the main floor of the hotel and walked into the café/ restaurant. I wasn't hungry, but I had a taste for mocha. The café and restaurant was largely empty. A few early birds were present, getting breakfast and coffee, pondering existence. Mark walked toward the café section where it had multiple couches and sofas. Sadly there wasn't a fireplace, which wasn't a big deal. He walked up to a wide sofa and sat down his sleeping pokémon by leaning them against the couch. "You want anything?" he asked.

"Double-chocolate mocha," I said. "Extra strong, small size."

"Alright."

As Mark went to the counter to order drinks. I turned my attention to his pokémon. It didn't take them long to notice Mark wasn't with them, must be the change of temperature. Mark had placed them individually, separated from each other. I got up and scooted the plusle and minun together, then scooted my great-granddaughter to them. I was just about to move Emolga when her eyes flickered open. Her marble pupils stared at me for a moment before she smiled, _"Hey, Tesla."_

 _"Hello, furball."_

She reached out and gave me a hug, and being polite I hugged her back. _"We went everywhere, taking care of Wotter and Smugleaf's ghosts before tracking down Polly. It was quite a trip."_

I asked, _"Where's Woody?"_

 _"Back on Faraday Island with Matt, we left before the Dixierats made the trip to Kanto."_

I sat down beside her and stared off at the wall. _"Let me ask you something, you ever wanted to do something besides being with Mark all the time?"_

 _"No."_

 _"Ever thought about it?"_

 _"Not even once."_

 _"You're fifteen-years-old, you must have something you want to do."_

Emolga thought for a moment. _"I do want to spend some time with Smugleaf. You were right about her though, she had changed since I last met her. I'm beginning to wonder if I can even trust her."_

 _"Had she confessed to the bad things she had done?"_ I asked.

Emolga nodded. _"Yes, she had. Back at Fort Wernher."_

I said, _"She can be trusted, the only question is that if she can trust herself. If she had really sorted out her life, she's going to be wondering what she's going to do for the next ten or twenty years. Maybe you should spent some time with her in one of those years, with or without Mark's approval."_

I saw Mark collecting the drinks and was getting ready to return to us. Emolga sat there and considered her options. _"I'll think about it. But right now, I don't care if Mark hates you or not. I feel safe around you as much as I do around him."_

Mark returned to us and handed me my drink. He took a sip of the drink he ordered for himself, then handed it to Emolga. She took a big gulp of the drink, then sat there and let it do its work.

Mark asked, "How's Polly treating you?"

"Same as ever," I said. "It's definitely her, I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Repay me by telling her what _you_ have done. I can bring you to her but I can't help if she starts looking at you the wrong way. The fact that she is gullible should ring warning bells, I have to be careful of what I tell her or she would develop false conceptions."

"So what did you tell her?"

"What she needed to know, and that's it."

Mark sat down beside me and Emolga handed him back his drink, he took a sip and stared off at the wall. "Before I left Faraday Island, I took a second look at those files from your time. This time I went back to the trunk and did a little more digging. This time I found a thumb drive I missed, it only has one single file. An audio log, addressed to you by Irvin. It was made the night after your 87th birthday."

"Makes sense, did you listen to it?"

"It was for you. I dare not listen to a dead man's words, especially one from whom I never met."

He wasn't lying, and for some reason I wasn't angry. A message from Irvin, after all these years? I asked, "Where is it now?"

"I copied it onto my notebook, and made several backups. But I did not listen to it. Perhaps this is a good time to have you listen to it. My notebook is in my bag, I have a shortcut to the file ready on my desktop for you to access. Just get it out when you're ready."

Mark took another sip of his hot beverage. "I got a secret I want to tell you, and my pokémon knows this all too well. Save for pikachu, they've even seen the whole process happen."

"What happened?"

Mark glanced at the door to the restaurant and sighed, "I got Carley pregnant."

"Coming from a guy like you, it's not a surprise."

"We had the baby aborted."

"When was this?"

"About four years ago, on a November night. We had sex and I made the mistake in sleeping with her while still attached and the condom leaked. Three weeks later she was pregnant, we talked about it and we decided on an abortion. Our parents didn't know about this, and I don't think they would care. We don't have a problem with stigma over teenage pregnancies and abortion is no big deal, but it was something else entirely."

"And what is that?"

"Something went wrong with the abortion process and now Carley's sterile. Our doctors kept the records confidential and our parents didn't know what happened. We were upset over the ordeal but we didn't beat ourselves up over it, shit happens."

That caught me completely off-guard. I knew Mark had his own faults but nothing this deep. I didn't criticized him or berate him about being stupid, I just sat there and listen.

"There's something else I do wanted to tell you, and I think this is something you might care about."

I said, "I'm listening."

Mark handed his drink back to Emolga, then reached over and scooped my great-granddaughter up. He cradled the pikachu in his arms and stroke the top of her head. "Carley and I resumed sex, but this time without condoms because pregnancy is no longer an issue. We both had another critical moment while we were in the middle of sex when your great-granddaughter here decided to join in on the fun, and this was just a day after you left for Kanto."

I nodded, but said nothing.

"I was on top of Carley when this pikachu crawled on top of her, then stuck her butt up in the air toward me. Now I was used to having my pokémon watching us have sex, but having them intervene was another story."

"What happened?" I asked.

"I knew she loved me differently than Emolga, but this time she was making that fact well known. When we realized she wanted to join in, Carley and I wondered what we were going to do."

"So what did you do?"

Mark shrugged. "I scooped her up and gave her oral sex."

I sat there for a moment, digesting that thought. Then I chuckled, before breaking out laughing. "Well," said Mark. "I guess I got you laughing after all."

I asked, "How did Carley react?"

"It took a bit of convincing, but it was your great-granddaughter who persuaded her. The pikachu even convinced Carley to give her a blowie too, and then I don't wanna think back about the moment ever since. It went well for my pikachu, that's for sure."

I said, "And why do you tell me this?"

"Cause you're going to hear more stories of this from other people. Those Dixierats aren't picky on who they mate with, you gotta be prepared to confront the issue when you assume full control over your family. I hope you're ready for a shitload of stupid to come. Who knows how the public will react when cases of beastily and sodomy started creeping up into mainstream media."

I took a big swig of my drink and sat there for a moment, then I blurted. "Just for the record, you were born because your dad's condom failed."

Mark glared at me. "What?!"

I couldn't help but grin. "Oh, I was there. What a mess that created, but I'm sure you understand."

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	32. Chapter 32

_Chapter 32_

Oh boy was he pissed, he gave me a look for a few seconds then reached out and rubbed my head. "Oh I see what you did there, you clever bastard. You've been waiting years to use that card, haven't you?"

"It just never occurred to me until now."

"Well then, I'm glad we understand each other."

I finished my drink and handed it to Mark, he took one last swig of his mocha, and while carrying his pikachu in one hand he walked over to the trash bin and threw away the empty cup. "Come on, let's go see the others for breakfast."

We walked back to the hotel room to find the others were just getting up. Polly and Wheels were still asleep, but everyone else was wide awake. Despite the noise level of the room, the older pokémon slept on without problems. I was forced to jump up on the bed and shake their shoulders. Wheels let out a yawn and buried his face into Polly, she in turn wrapped her arms around her son and just kept on snoozing.

"Had a moment for coffee?" Ray asked as he walked up.

"Yeah, I had. But it wasn't coffee, some sort of mocha."

Ray hunched over and sniffed Polly's fur. "Mmm, so soft."

Polly let out a yawn and opened her eyes, but didn't bother to move. Ray kept scratching her back until she persuaded herself to sit up. "Morning, Polly." I said.

Polly let out another yawn, she squinted her eyes as she tried to see through the window light. Wheels just sit up and adjust himself, using Polly to hold himself up. "It's morning already?"

"Yup, it's morning."

Wheels shut his eyes and hunched over, ready to return sleeping. Ray then scoop both him and Polly up and place them on his back. Polly knew the drill, she grabbed onto the fur on Ray's back. Wheels just slumped over and rolled onto the ground, snoozing away.

Andy came up and scooped Wheels up. "Here, I'm going to get his braces back on. Maybe he'll be awake then."

Mark simply stripped off his pajama pants and stuffed it into his backpack, then picked his pants up from the floor and put it on. Henry and Carley pretty much did the same, typical militia.

Henry asked, "So are we going to get something to eat or get onto the plane back to Faraday Island?"

Volta whined, "I'm hungry."

I said, "How about we get something to eat when we get to the plane, can that be arranged?"

Mark said, "Fast food, sure. Probably the sooner we get to the plane, the sooner we would get to Faraday Island."

"If it becomes its own country, wouldn't it just be called Faraday instead?"

Mark thought for a second. "Why not?"

Mark checked out of the hotel and we all piled into the van. We stopped at the local fast food restaurant's drive thru and ordered a shit ton of food. This time I didn't care what I order, I just have Mark make the decision for me. We got a little variety of breakfast food, such as waffle and half a dozen types of bagel sandwiches. For some reason Mark ordered a little too many hash browns, not sure if I wanted to asked. He paid for the food and we received it in the next window, then we drove straight to the airport."

"Who's going to pick up the rental car?" I asked.

Mark said, "I already have it arranged, that shouldn't be a problem."

We drove from one town to the next, it took a while for us to get back to the private airport. Mark parked the van and we all got out. He walked inside and made a call on the videophone for someone to come over and pick it up. Meanwhile Andy went up to the clerk and rented a plane, he paid in cash, and then he placed a few extra hundred pokédollar bills on the counter. "Someone is going to pick up that van outside, give this to the guy when he arrives. This should cover the fees and the gas."

The clerk said, "I'll hang on to it until he shows up."

The clerk led us outside to a plane ready to go. It was the same plane I rode when leaving Faraday Island. This time it has a different pilot, who was more than eager to take us back. We all crawled into the pilot and got a seat in the luxury chairs, buckled up, and let the pilot prime the plane for the trip back home.

I asked Mark, "I was expecting for the KRP to be on our tail, so where are they?"

He said, "I went to the Faradian embassy and bribed the ambassador to keep you under the radar. He took the money and used some of it to bribe a Kanto official, who pulled some strings to steer the police in the wrong direction. The KRP is off our back, but Interpol is unhinged. I'm going to need Faraday Island's spy agency to keep the International Police away."

The pilot spoke over the intercom he was ready to take off. The engines began to pick up power and the airplane began to move. The aircraft smoothly sped down the runway and took off into the sky. Once the seatbelt sign clicked off, we all began digging into our meals. I allowed myself to have a bagel sandwich and a hash brown biscuit. The humans, Smugleaf and Wotter were peacefully eating their breakfast. Rai Rai and Bruiser had an appetite going but were pacing themselves. Ray and Volta ate their food a little too fast, but stopped occasionally to make sure they got the food down. Polly and Wheels weren't hungry, but they ate some hash brown biscuits. As for me, I laid down on the couch and attempted to sleep a portion of the ride away.

I was soon stirred awake from Polly and Wheels's moans. I sat up and found both my mate and son on their sides. "I don't feel so good," Wheels muttered.

I said, "Andy, do we have ginger ale?"

Andy opened up the small fridge. "We do, and also some Dramamine."

"Give both to him."

Andy grabbed the ginger ale and poured two glasses, he then took the Dramamine bottle and popped out a pill. He snapped the pill with his thumbnail and took the pills and the drinks back to Polly and Wheels. "Here, take this and swallow these."

He gave each half of the Dramamine pill. Polly and Wheels placed them in their mouths and washed it down with ginger ale. After drinking the entire glass, Polly crawled up to me and laid by my side. "You're going to be okay?" I asked.

Polly nodded. _"I'll be fine."_

She pressed my nose against my side and started sniffing my fur. I wrapped an arm around her and tried to return to sleep.

 **. . .**

Not sure how long I was out, but when I woke up everyone was snoozing away. All of the airplane's window shutters were pulled down and the mood lighting was on. I sat there for a moment and listened to the drone of the airplane's engines. Everyone was sleeping, nobody to talk to. I quickly got bored and turned my attention to Mark. His notebook computer was sitting on a table, plugged into a USB charging outlet. I slipped out of Polly's arms and her body into the recovery position. I climbed down from the chair and crawled up to the computer. I unplugged the charging cable and took the notebook back to the couch where I opened it up. The notebook woke up and displayed its desktop screen. Sure enough there was a shortcut icon, labeled _WESTINGHOUSE._

I sat there for a moment, considered if I should open it or not. I glanced back at the table where the notebook was sitting on and saw a pair of ear phones. I sat the notebook down and retrieved the ear buds, then returned to the notebook and plugged them into the sound port. I sat down, adjusted the notebook, then clicked on the icon. A blank screen appeared.

"I hope you are listening to this, Tesla," Irvin's voice said. I was surprised, I hadn't heard his voice in twenty years and it sounded exactly as I had remembered it. "If you are listening to this, I assume it's going to be pretty late in the game. But of course, this isn't a game. I want to make this audio log in case I don't get the chance to say goodbye. I know you're a stubborn pikachu, but you've felt so much pain I cannot fathom how you can live this long. If you are listening this after your 100th birthday, I'm proud for your accomplishment. If not, then I understand.

"If you did live beyond your 100th birthday, I'm going to assume what had happened after my death that things have fallen apart for you guys. You, the pokémon you called friends, and the people I called friends, maybe old or dying. Maybe most have already passed away. If anything bad happens to them, especially Nobark. Don't blame yourself. I will take responsibility for them because I put them into this position. I don't believe I would live long enough to fix the damage, I hope my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren would do just that.

"Now let me get straight to the point. When I first saw you in that cage with so much hurt inside you, I knew what I was dealing with. I have researched cases of pokémon abuse beforehand. I picked you because I want to make your case known to the world and I wanted to give you a better life. I didn't expect us to be that famous during our pokémon adventures. I've regretted ever putting you in the arena in the first place. I knew you cannot bear the responsibility of your power since the day you blew off my arm."

Irvin paused for a moment, he continued, "I guess you could say that since I'm dead, the contract between you and me has expired. But knowing you, your commitment to me and my family would urge you to renew the contract for a new generation. I would love to tell you that you don't have to do this, but I'm leaving the option to you. Either way, you're now in charge. Here you are, the Master of Electricity. Your feelings toward Faraday Island are bad, I know. So that's why I put you into the breeding program.

"I should've bribed someone or even buy Polly and maybe some of your children so you can have an immediate family of your own. But I've gotten old and I was losing my charm, I've asked Andy to take the task up for me. Regardless of the outcome for you, the breeding program has put together a mass of chus descended from you. You probably have some idea about them already, but I'm not questioning how much you know. But what I am going to tell you is this: You have an army being raised, I have freed some of your chus and have Andy keep an eye on them. Their appetite for breeding should spawn an army large enough to take the capitol building of Faraday Island. Once they're on the island, what you do with them is up to you.

"I'm going to give you one last order, and you're going to love this. Take the government of Faraday Island hostage with the army I had bred for you and with anything else you have also crafted up. Once you have the government under your thumb, get into the spotlight one last time and explain your grief to the island. If your influence is still strong, you might change the culture of Faraday forever."

Another pause. "I love you, bud. I don't believe there's an afterlife, but you're too smart for that. If there is, I hope we would see each other again in another life. I only wonder if we both have memories of each other. Goodbye, Tesla. I know you would do the right thing."

The audio log stopped. When I was brought back to the present, I found my eyes filling with tears. I turned off the sound, unplugged the ear buds from the notebook and returned them both to the table. I plugged the charging cable back in and returned to the couch. I laid down with Polly and buried my face into her shoulder. This stirred her awake, I felt her hand trace against my side. _"Tes,"_ she whispered. _"Are you okay?"_

 _"Never better,"_ I told her. _"I just don't have the words to describe how much I'm glad to see you again."_

We both looked into each other's eyes for a brief moment, then I took off my eye-goggles and set them aside. _"Would you look at me with those same eyes if I were to tell you that I have done things that I'm not proud of?"_

 _"What did you do?"_

 _"After I heard you were taken off the island, I was devastated. I stopped eating for a time, and I stopped talking to others for a while. Irvin managed to persuade me into a pokémon battle so I could get my aggression out. What I didn't know, my challenger was another female pikachu. And when I saw her…"_

I shook my head. _"I lost it, I truly lost it. I incapacitated her in one blow, picked her up and ran out of the arena. Everyone was laughing, and thinking back at it is probably is. But the nature of it is not. I took her into a janitor's closet, and then I raped her."_

Polly said nothing.

I said, _"I never ever lied to you Polly, but at the time, I felt my life was over. After I realized what I done, I ran out of Irvin's gym and disappeared for four months. Somehow I got picked up by Team Rocket, taken to their HQ where they locked me up in a supermax security cell. They didn't know what to do with me, since they knew I was owned by one of their members. I planned my escape, pulled some cards, and broke out of my cell. It wasn't a grand escape, it was a massacre. I freed as many imprisoned pokémon as I could, but then I realized these pokémon, just like me, were too damaged to ever live a normal life from before. Many died moments after they were freed, most were recaptured. I managed to escape along with a few other pokémon. I made it back to Faraday Island, turned them over to a trusted friend, and I spent the next few weeks lying in bed, pondering my existence and actions leading up to that point."_

Polly pressed her forehead against my chin, then said. _"One of the chus my handler was breeding was very aggressive. They had to keep a noose around his neck every time they get him out of his cage for something. All I knew was that he was poached and abused. He was one of our grandchildren, but he acted like a monster. One day he bit one of the scientists while they were trying to get him back into his cage. They gave him a shot that knocked him out, a few hours later he woke up and started crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "Somebody please kill me."_

 _"Did you do anything about it?"_ I asked.

Polly said, _"He told me a story where he was born in a malicious lab. His mother was abused and assaulted, he himself suffered the same fate. One day they killed her, and he just broke down. I wondered if there was anything I could do for him. And then I remembered something. You remembered that night when you taught me how to disable the lock in my cage without letting my handler know?"_

 _"Yes, I did. I had hopes that you might break out and come find me."_

 _"I did break out, but I didn't get far. I unlocked my cage, then climbed up on the pikachu's cage and opened his door. I have to do it in the middle of the night and I have to work fast, I had thoughts they were going to put him down. When I opened his cage, he looked at me with eyes similar to yours. He gave me a hug, thanked me, and then he left. I closed his cage and climbed back into my own, locked it up, and said nothing when they discovered he was gone."_

 _"You never heard from him again?"_

Polly shook her head. _"Never heard from him again. We were in Unova at the time, I'm not sure if he's still around anymore."_

Polly pressed her head against my chest. _"Did you bite anyone in your life?"_

 _"No, I don't bite. Never had, never will."_

Polly hugged me for a few seconds, then said, _"Those two pokémon you call Smugleaf and Wotter. I can tell they were neglected. They told me their stories and I told them a little bit about you. I was a bit surprised that they knew you, they said you were pouring out the ass with experience. They also told me you keep them on a short leash."_

 _"Trusting them is a challenge. Both can manipulate their victims and I knew all too well the game they play. I hope whatever good Mark had done to them reformed them to a degree, it would help me keep a promise to an old friend of mine who passed away recently."_

 _"They told me about that, said you risked your life to save them."_

 _"I did more than just save them, I gave them a second chance. I was bedridden for days because of that mess."_

I stroked the back of Polly's head, raking my fingers through her fur. I said, _"Once we're on Faraday Island, you're going to see a lot of things you won't understand. There's a crisis going on, and it is caused by the chu's we both created. They have been displaced, they're looking for shelter, and they're looking for food. Their only hope is the protection I can provide from my popularity back in the day. When things settle down and word spreads about you, a lot of these chus will come to see you. Most will be our great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, and so on. A handful of them will be our grandchildren. And though it may be extremely rare, maybe even one of our own children will turn up. I hope."_

 _"I know a lot of our kids and grandkids, I really wanna see them again."_

I held up Polly's head. _"Polly, as good as that is, may be short-lived. Our children are old now, most haven't had the proper healthcare we both had. I don't want to upset you, but there is a change they may come to us just to die. I hope that won't be the reason, because it's not a good feeling to have. But I want you to be ready for when that moment comes. Right now, we already got one of our late children stashed away. Awaiting a necropsy, when this is all over we're going to have him buried close to where we will spend the rest of our days together."_

I heard Mark stir and said, "Tesla, can I asked you something?"

I turned to him. "What is it, Mark?"

"As I recall, a good portion of your children were created from artificial insemination from seven other female pikachus. What if they show up, only to discover that Polly isn't their mother? You have a plan in place to pull them out of that awkward situation?"

I thought for a moment. "Oh shit, that's going to be damaging. I hope they know this beforehand, because I don't want to be in the room with them when someone breaks the news. But one thing I can reassure them they have an extended family. It would be even more awkward if their mother comes along, and I don't even know most of them."

"Most of them?"

"The eighth pikachu who bored my children was the one that I . . . uh, was forced to challenge. She had twins, I got a feeling they grew up just fine but I don't know if they're floating around in the world somewhere."

Mark sat up and folded his hands behind his head. "You've listened to the audio?"

"Yes, I had. It was quite emotional?"

"What did Irvin say?"

"Among all the apologies and bullshit, he said our contract has expired."

"Not a surprise."

I said, "But he left me with one last order."

"Which is?"

"Finish his work by taking the capitol building of Electron."

Mark's eyes bulged open. "Wait, he wants you to lead the Dixierats to take the capitol building?!"

Andy stirred and yawned. "Yup, he does. That's the whole reason why we the Dixierats. But before we can do that, we're going to need to take Faraday's military command center, Fort Electro, and capture the Supreme Commander, Edward McCarran."

"Fuck, McCarran was my superior officer during childhood and he still is."

"Would that be a problem?"

"Yes, that's going to be a problem. I am one of the most successful snipers in the world, most of whom were born and trained on the Island. If Faraday's judicial system discovers I have sided with you in this invasion, then I'm going to be accused for treason. And treason is a death sentence that is non-negotiable."

I asked, "Non-negotiable?"

"I can't get an appeal. If I am found guilty, I will be executed before the day is out. Found guilty by noon, executed by midnight. You can't find these cases in Faraday's public library because they're classified."

I said, "Now why would they execute their country's best sniper for siding with their national mascot? There's going to be a shit-storm. Assuming there will be a trial, it's not going to go anywhere because the court system is under Unova control. Once the Island breaks all ties with Unova, the Faradian Government will need to reform their constitution. Tell you what, once I have the Island's political and military leaders under my thumb. We'll force them out of office. Besides, a lot of them are born in Unova, so getting a recall election underway wouldn't be a problem."

Mark thought for a moment. "Sounds like a plan, but there's a problem. Before I left Faraday Island, the Hydrogen Power Plant was forced to perform an emergency shutdown. Right now, only Faraday Island and a handful of towns have power, but overall the national grid is offline."

"What about the water supply?"

"Still going without any problems. The water treatment plant produces its own power, independent from the power plant, including the many pumps and wells around the island. Water is not a problem."

"Can we assume Electron still has power?"

"It's one of the cities that still has power, the Executive Mansion, Capitol Building, and the Supreme Court are still powered. If you want to seize control of the government, you'll need to take all those buildings and not just the General Assembly."

I said, "Okay, that's the plan. So how are we going to coordinate the Dixierats to mobilize around Electron and Fort Electro? Communication is imperative here."

Andy said, "They're already in position, around Fort Electro and Electron. For now, they show no obvious signs of being a threat. But when they're given the signal, they're going to move."

"Do they even know what they're doing?"

"Some do, most do not. But that doesn't matter, the end product will be just what we're looking for."

 **. . .**

When we entered Faradian airspace, the seatbelt light came on. I didn't expect us to arrive until tomorrow. Andy explained we were traveling with the jet stream, so we got here a little faster than from our trip to Kanto. We flew low and landed in the same private airport we left in. Once we were on Faradian soil, the pilot parked the jet back in its hanger and killed the engines. We waited until the engines died down before we stepped off the plane. It was sunset, I have to once again adjust from jet lag. After signing off on paperwork, Mark led us to the front of the administrator building to his shitty pickup truck. He had left it there since leaving the Island for Polly, I wished someone had smashed into it and ripped out its fuses. I just hate looking at his overmodded piece of junk. Andy sat up in front while everyone else sat in the back. I didn't feel safe, I had to sit in Ray's lab and I was barely tolerating him sniffing my fur. Polly on the other hand loved him, she rubbed her head against his belly and got into a comfortable position to sleep in.

"Mark needs to get a new car," I said as we drove away from the airport.

"What do you expect him to do?" Henry asked.

"Get the exact same one in a different color."

We all laughed from that, Mark was quite predictable. Henry said, "He's probably going to get it in yellow just to piss you off."

"With purple racing stripes to rub it in."

Another moment of laughter.

"But in reality, he's going to photoshop the picture and show it to me. His new car is going to be olive green, I got a feeling he didn't intend his car to be tan."

We drove onto the main road and made our way back to the farm. Mark drove at a slow pace, around 55 KPH in an 80 KPH zone. I half-expected to find gunmen waiting around the corner or driving up the road, ready to gun us to death. A lot had changed since we left, I could tell as my instincts told me this road isn't safe.

I said, "Henry, Carley, get ready for a firefight. There's going to be dumbshits taking advantage of the lack of law enforcement on these roads."

Mark drove up to the old familiar mailbox and turned onto the gravel road. As we got closer to the farmhouse, I began to smell smoke. My ears perked up.

"Something wrong?" Carley asked.

I said, "Something's fucked."

We sound found out why. When the farmhouse came into view, it was a sorry sight. Mark stopped the car thirty meters away from the driveway. I quickly got out and rushed over to the house. I stood there, my jaw dropped.

The old one-story farmhouse had collapsed into pieces.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	33. Chapter 33

_Chapter 33_

I always had mixed feelings about the farm. This house had served as my home for seventy years. It had seen three generations of Westinghouses, several generations of pokémon, and had seen enough history to fill several textbooks. Words cannot describe all the good and bad feelings I had for this place, but the one thing I had always felt was a sense of home. Now I sit on my knees before what was left of it. I wasn't sure how I should react. Due to the horrid smell this house had and the overcrowding conditions of pokémon it harbored, I can't say I would miss it. Why should I? It's only going to get rebuilt in the end, which is a story for another time.

Andy rushed up to me and shook my shoulder. "Tesla, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

I blinked and looked up at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Come to think of it, I always hated this place."

Mark walked up and pointed to the door. "Look, search and rescue markings. Someone had searched the house and found nobody was in it at the time."

I looked up. A bright orange X was spray-painted next to what was left of the front door. The date said the search occurred two days ago. If nobody was in it, then…

"Shit," I said. "Where did Matt go? And Woody? Did they go back to Faraday Island or go elsewhere?"

I looked up in the sky and noticed smoke was bellowing over the backyard. I broke into a sprint and ran around the condemned house. A small camp had sprouted in the backyard. A single olive green tarp was erected before a medium-sized firepit. A stack of food and water sat nearby, covered with another olive green tarp. The black pikachu outline on the corners suggested these were property of the Faradian National Guard. Hanging off of the makeshift tent tarp was an orange flag with a cracked poké ball trying to contain an explosion. The flag wasn't familiar to me, I was later told that it was the flag of the Pokémon Resistance Army. How did Nobark get a flag maker to design and craft the flag is beyond me.

When the group came around the corner, Smugleaf saw the flag. "That's the PRA's flag, why is it doing here?"

A timburr emerged from the tent. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. His energy returned when he looked up and saw Smugleaf coming toward him. _"Smugleaf, you're back!"_

Smugleaf gave Woody a hug as Wotter came over to shake his hand. _"Looks like you've been holding down the fort."_

 _"I had sleepless nights,"_ said Woody. _"The national guard came in and took a look at the place. They were kind enough to leave supplies but…"_

I walked up and asked Woody. _"What happened, Woody?"_

Woody explained to me what happened and I translated it for the humans. "The electrical wiring in the house caught fire and burnt down a portion of the house. Matt and Woody managed to get everything of value out of the house, before they could figure out their next move it collapsed from its own weight. The wood was just too rotted to hold itself anymore."

"Where's my grandfather?" Mark asked.

"Back in Faraday Island at home. His door is now fixed and is still being guarded, the anarchy in Faraday City had died down so he should be safe."

Woody said, _"People are hunkered down in their homes, and there was looting taking place in the nearby towns. I just don't know what to do, guys. I don't wanna stay here but I still hoped you would come back."_

 _"And we're back,"_ I said. _"You're relieved of your post."_

I turned back to Andy. "We need to get the ball rolling. Which should we take first? Fort Electro or Electron?"

"Their military command should go first," said Andy. "Makes it easier to take Electron later."

Woody said, _"Wait, what are we doing?"_

 _"Making history, Woody. Our way."_ I switched back to human speech. "We better go find our Dixierat squads and organize an attack."

 **. . .**

Mark drove us toward Fort Electro. We passed by several towns along the way. A lot of them were locked down, guarded by the local police district. Mark, Henry, and Carley were back in their National Guard uniforms but I doubt that would help us pass by checkpoints. So Mark pulled off the road and actually drove around those checkpoints, he switched the pickup truck's engine to use Hydrogen which was ridiculously quiet and powerful enough for rough terrain. The sun was dipping lower into the horizon. Mark kept the headlights off but wasn't willing to drive any further than he had to. After almost an hour of driving on and off of roads, Mark stopped just a kilometer away from Fort Electro's fence. Sitting in a low spot just behind a hill and a patch of trees was a large Dixierat pack. It behaved a lot differently than its Viridian Forest brethren. There were no prejudice, no fear. The raichus weren't paranoid or mean, they were just as sweet-tempered as their lesser counterparts.

Mark got out and turned toward me. "I'm gonna have to take the rest of your immediate Dixierat squad back to the farm. I can't risk lugging them around in the back of my pickup. If the authorities were to catch you with me, there's no telling if they're willing to detain you or not."

"Do what you have to do, Mark." I turned to Ray. "You wanna tag along?"

Ray chirped. "Sure, Tes!"

Ray leaped out of the pickup truck, the vehicle heaving on its shocks as he jumped out of the vehicle. I gave Polly and Wheels a hug, then I turned to Bruiser. "Keep them safe, I'll be back."

Bruiser nodded, "I know you will."

Andy scooped me up and gave me a hug. "Try not to get yourself killed like last time, I doubt that an ambulance would be available under Marshall law."

I said, "Do you have anything I could use for the time being?"

Mark reached into the cab of his truck and pulled out a portable radio and handed it to me. "Here, this should help keep you informed on what is going on. The jammers should be disabled by now."

The radio was hand-cranked and solar powered. It also had a DC charging outlet and a compartment for alkaline batteries. I opened up the compartment and saw it was filled with four rechargeable nickel metal hydrate batteries. I sensed they were fully charged including the built-in nickel cadmium batteries, I don't have to worry about a power source in this grid-down situation. The radio also had a built-in flashlight and emergency red flasher, which can be useful. I flipped on the power switch and the radio came to life.

"Thanks, Mark. This will prove invaluable."

"I hope you also have an outpost from your old outlaw days nearby, I got a feeling you're going to need to use it again."

Mark rubbed my head and scooped me up. He sat me on the ground and I stepped away from the pickup truck. The Dixierats in their makeshift camp watched as Mark got into his vehicle and restarted the engine. "Good luck, Tesla. Maybe we can come out of this as friends when it's all over."

With that, he pulled away. I held my hand up and waved. Volta, Polly, and Wheels poked their heads out and stared at me with big marble eyes. That made my heart sink. I wished they would stay behind and stick with me through all this, but Wheels is in no condition to handle the rough terrain and Polly is terrified of the outdoors. I could see Volta staying behind with me with all this, she's physically able to handle the challenge. Bruiser can handle a war, he was a veteran after all. But this wasn't in his nature, I can understand that. I think he wanted to stay with family more than leaving to meet a potential grizzly end in the mud.

When the truck pulled away, I said to no one in particular. "So this is how it feels."

Ray said, "Maybe they would join you for Electron."

"No, Ray. It's not that."

I turned to Ray and said, "Think back to your Uncle Dixierat. He was shoved in a cargo bay and taken away from what he knew was home, only to be dumped in the wilderness with no clear goal in mind. He wasn't prepared for the wild, that's why he broke down."

"I don't understand."

I thought for a moment. "A century before, I was taken captive and was hauled in the back of the truck away from what I knew. It broke me up. Have you ever wondered why I was always such a hot-headed? It was because of that transitioning from the wild to civilization. Now here we are, going to war at human civilization. This hadn't been done in 1,000 years." I sighed. "Irvin knew this was going to happen. How come he hadn't told me about this? I've should've met you and Bruiser thirty years before, it would've made my transition to a life after Irvin a lot easier."

I carried the radio and made my way over to the Dixierats. They were happy to see me, but they weren't looking to good. The conversations were mostly about food and water. When was the last time any of them had eaten anything? I found a spot near a boulder and sat the radio on a rock ledge, then I sat down. "We're going to need to build a fire, it's going to get cold and we'll freeze."

Ray asked, "What about the light from the fire?"

"We will build it up against this rock wall to contain the light. Get all the Dixierats together and have them gather up kindling, and get it done now."

 **. . .**

I was surprised of the Dixierats were competent enough to get simple tasks done. Ray mobilized the mass and we got to work in building firewood. We gathered up deadfall off the ground and broken them up into twigs and sticks and piled them into a large firewood bundle. I then took a branch thick enough for my hand to grip and split one end with a thin stone. I took some spruce bark and stuffed it in that gap and lit it with a spark of my own electricity. A lot of mouse eyes marveled as I held the makeshift torch in my hand.

With the sun down and my torch being the only source of light. We began building six fire pits up against the wall. We used thick rocks to line the firepits and then loaded them up with tinder and kindling. I lit each fire pit up with my torch. Once the fire pits were lit, the Dixierats carefully added logs as the fires grew to maturity. As for me, I began building a makeshift bed up against the boulder. First I made the bed by spacing two log a little longer than my height, then I placed the longest sticks we have on those logs. I used a stone to stake them in place so they won't move, then I began laying spruce branches on top of the makeshift bed.

Just when I was done, I saw Mark's pickup truck return. He and Henry got out and began unloading a large footlocker. They carried it over to me and sat it by the makeshift bed. "I have to give you credit for your resourcefulness," said Mark. "Knowing you, you might not need any of these supplies. Your descendants will make good use of them though."

"Thanks, Mark," I said. "Where did you take the others?"

"I took your immediate Dixierat relatives, including Polly, to my grandfather's house, then I dropped everyone else back at the Westinghouse farm. Faraday City isn't as bad as we thought, everyone knew what to do and have adjusted in the grid-down situation. The Dixierats practically control the whole city now."

"How's your father?"

Mark said, "He stopped by grandpa's house, I asked him to come over because I had a lot of explaining to do. When he arrived, I told him what I was doing and even introduced him to Polly and Wheels. Whatever grudge he had against you faded when he heard Wheels's story about how you got your ass ran over and nearly died."

"Did you say anything about your Mom?"

Mark nodded. "I told him about the experience, left out no details. He wasn't surprised. He asked where you were and I told him you were needed elsewhere. Of course, I didn't tell him where you were exactly. The less he knows, the better."

"Smart."

Mark turned and glanced over to Fort Electro. "Strange, I haven't been there since I was a boy. I wondered how much has changed since I graduated six years ago."

"Why not stick around and reunite with your superior officer?"

Mark shook his head. "Not right now, perhaps after this situation. I better go, Tes. I don't wanna be anywhere near that fort when you start knocking down its walls."

"Stay safe, bud. And try not to jump off a cliff."

Just as Mark and Henry walked away. I could hear Henry asking Mark, "Why did he said not to jump off a cliff?"

Mark said, "Long story, I'll tell you about it later."

I waited until Mark and Henry drove off, then I grabbed the weather radio and turned on its flashlight. I shined it on the trunk. It was olive green with military insignias and a serial number. I opened the heavy duty latches and opened it. Inside were an olive green tarpaulin, a large fleece blanket, several packs of space blankets, black duct tape, a bundle of tools, a fire-starting kit, a can opener, and dozens upon dozens of canned food and MRE packets. I grabbed all of the useful gear and turned the crate over to Ray. "Here, big lug. Food for you and your Dixierat brethren."

"Ooh," said Ray. "Nice."

As Ray began distributing the food rations to our hungry chus, I got to work in setting up the tarp. I found some cordage and stakes and began setting it up around my sleeping area. Turns out it was huge, spanning five meters long and three meters wide. I asked Ray and the Dixierats to help me set it up in return for something to sleep under in case it rains. We dug small holes, burying the ends of long sticks into the ground. Tying them to the tarp, then stretching it all out so it covers as much surface area as possible. The final product looked more like a tent, a pretty big tent. One end covers my sleeping area against the boulder, the other was wide open without much protection. Ray tried to block it with the crate, I had him move the crate inside and set it beside my bed. I then put him to work in building a reflector wall just two meters outside the tent. I personally rolled two long logs over to the tent and had Ray help me sit one on top of the other.

"You're going to make a fire?" he asked me as I stake down green wooden sticks around the logs so they wouldn't roll around.

"It's called a long fire," I said. "It's not necessary for it to have a reflector wall, but I don't want the light to be seen from outside the camp. Here, stuff the gap here with tinder and kindling, then we'll light it up."

We stuffed the gap between the logs with tinder and kindling. I then opened up the fire-starting kit and found several options to light a fire. Flint and steel, a ferro rod, matches, a large magnifying glass, and a windproof lighter. I grabbed the matches and lit a stick, then stuck it into the bundle. I lit a few more matches and placed them in and around the logs. It didn't take long for the fire to get going. "Get some rocks and line them up, we need to keep this place as warm as possible."

Just as we were gathering rocks, the wind started to pick up. It blew from the West, luckily our reflector wall blocked out the wind. To be extra sure, I asked Ray to construct a small shelter for our fire in case it rains. He knew how to build, especially with one arm. I have to make minor adjustments to his fire shelter, but it worked like a charm.

I unwrapped one of the space blankets and spread it across the floor of the tent, then I took the fleece blanket and spread it over that. I took another space blanket and tucked it under the top support beam of the tent, then used the duct tape to tape it against the sides. Satisfied, I let in all the Dixierats who helped me put the tent together. I then asked Ray to go around the tent and search for any chus who are old, sick, or young. A lot of pichus without parents or caretakers came into the tent. I had them bundle together around the center of the blanket, then I had all the pikachus sit around them. Finally I had the raichus sit around the outer edges, that way everyone gets enough warmth and won't get too hot or cold. I let out a yawn and laid down on my bed. I never felt this tired before in my entire life.

"Tes," said Ray. "Here, you better eat this."

Ray handed me an MRE and a water packet. Again, I didn't feel hungry, but I'm not arguing. "Thanks," I said, taking the packets. "This will help me get through the night."

I tore open the MRE and got some food in me. It was dry pasta with some sort of cheese. White spaghetti probably. I tore open the water packet and drank down a mouthful. I didn't realize how dehydrated I was until I found the packet empty after a few minutes. The MRE was also gone, I guess I still had some appetite after all. I sat the empty packets on top of each other and tucked them under the makeshift bed. Without warning the wind picked up. Embers spewed out of the long fire as the wind battered it from the front. Hadn't it had protection, the wind could've blown out the fire and leave us in the cold.

And then it started raining.

It didn't rain that hard, just moderate. However it was enough to annoy the shit out of the rest of the Dixierats caught out in the open. I stepped out of the tent and surveyed the clearing. The campfires I had lit earlier for the Dixierats were going out. They all quickly built a makeshift shelter for their fire. Some just thrown in more wood into their fires, accidentally smothering them. It didn't take long for a few miserable chus to start crying, even a few hardy raichus had reached their breaking point.

Ray walked up beside me and watched the entire group of Dixierats break down. "They're homesick," he said. "They have no burrows to call home."

I said, "I know their pain, but unlike them I had no one to help me."

I turned around and checked all the available space in our tent. "You feel like squeezing in a few more chus under our tent?"

"We can't fit them all," said Ray.

"Then we'll fit only those who really need it."

I went out into the rain and began searching for chus who need shelter. Not all of the Dixierats got wet. Some had made some sort of shelter to keep the rain off of them. The results ranged from catastrophic failure to acceptable. The chus with shelters that worked didn't need assistance, those who had crumbling shelters begged for help. I went back to the tent and grabbed all the remaining space blankets we had, then I handed them out to these chus in need. They simply covered their shelters with the space blanket, which successfully kept the rain out. By then most of the fires had gone out, a few chus used their precious energy to spark them back to life. All attempts failed, many chus risked facing a cold, wet night.

I managed to find a few chus who could no longer stand the rain. They were borderline hypothermic and severely depressed. I brought them into our warm shelter where the chus who remained dry stoked our protected fire, adding in more wood to bring in more heat.

 _"Thank you,"_ said one soaking pikachu. _"Thank you, Tesla!"_

I said, _"Stay warm, buddy."_

I returned to my bed and sat the radio on top of the chest, then flipped it on. Static exploded out from the speaker, startling all of the Dixierats inside the tent. I quickly turned down the volume and quickly switched to a news channel. Sure enough the jammers were deactivated, only to be replaced by the emergency alert system. _"This is the emergency alert system, this is not a test. All public channels will receive news and updates from the Faradian government. Please stay tuned for further announcements."_ A high-pitched alert tone squealed three times. _"The Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued a foreign invasion warning for all towns and cities of Faraday Island. For your protection and safety, head to the nearest public or private shelter. Remember, an invasion warning is when a foreign government from a neighboring or faraway region invades a targeted country for resources and control. Refrain from engaging combat with the enemy alone. Always stick with a group. Small arms fire are ineffective against armored vehicles…"_

I switched the channel to the NOAA weather bands. I got the same monotone message, I switched the radio off and stared at it for a moment, then turned my attention to the Dixierats. They all looked at me with big marble eyes filled with tears and mercy. Whatever enthusiasm they had when they first arrived on the Island was gone. I glanced at Ray, for the first time in our friendship I saw him with sad eyes. From what I was told, Ray had broken down when he thought I was just about to die. Now he sits there, taking up space under an overcrowded tent. Everyone was relying on me, expecting me to ease their suffering. But just what I can do?

I said, _"A rough night, huh?"_

A few chus nodded.

I listened to the rain pelting the tent for a few seconds, then continued. _"Is anyone starting to feel sick?"_

Not a single chu said a word.

 _"Does anyone feel like they have nothing left?"_

Several mice raised their hands.

 _"Things look bleak, I know. I personally feel like giving in myself. Like you, I was dragged into this mess. We've all lost loved ones, have we not?"_

Everyone nodded, including Ray.

 _"A long time ago, I was poached, I never saw my parents and my six siblings again. I was first brought into this Island in a cage, one man freed me because he didn't want to see me suffer any more than I have to. I am one of the last true wild pokémon who walks the face of the planet. I possess knowledge passed down from our ancestors. I lived through a world where my generation perished. A lot of pokémon lost all contact to their ancient past, now eating comfortably from a can. You've guys had it easy in Dixie, despite the poacher problem?"_

Everyone nodded.

 _"Did anyone question your own existence?"_

Everyone but Ray shook their heads.

 _"I had, the answer I found is this. We are nothing compared to the humans who conquered the most of the planet. To them, we mice pokémon are pests. We break into their homes, feast off their food and power outlets. Destroy their network lines. Raid their garbage. You know why we do that?"_

Everyone shook their heads.

 _"Because we don't have a choice. We are all trapped within our bodies and instincts, a slave to ourselves. Due to the loss of ancient knowledge and sparse food supply, we are forever dependent on humanity. That's a fact that will never change. To get where I am now, I have to first realize this. To come to think of it, humankind brought all of you to the world the world because they have used me and my mate. I tried fighting humanity, but I lost in the end."_ And then I added in human speech. "And then they consumed me."

One pikachu raised his hand. _"We were all told you were a legend."_

"I am, but I didn't wish to be one. Like you, I just wanted a simple quiet life. No drama, no sporadic adventures, just a smooth, predictable life. I've been waiting to relive that life for most of my life, now I believe that time is near. A good friend of mine, Mark Kissinger, found my mate, Polly, who I thought was lost forever. Andrew Westinghouse, my trainer's grandson, found my son. We were all old, but we managed to regain a sense of immediate family. I never been so happy since I was a pichu.

"However, I have to leave them with my trusted human friends so I can be with you guys. You were all brought to the world for a reason, and that's to make sure our family survives. Here I am, your living ancestor. I may have super electric powers and a high level of intelligence, but I'm still a pikachu, a pokémon. I'm old now, I can't stand on my two feet without arthritis pricking my knees. But I came out here you guys are getting by. A lot of you are giving up hope that we all won't have a life again. I'm a living testament that there is still hope, because I've been inside the dark side of humanity. I came out broken down, beat up, but I still managed to live."

A raichu raised his hand. _"How did you do it?"_

I said, "Cause I already lived through my greatest fears, now I'm helping you guys get through yours."

I turned on the radio again and switched back to the FM channels. One channel after another was on shutdown. I then switched to AM. The local AM channels were under the EAS, interestingly enough I stumbled into channels outside of Unova. All of them were broadcasting their local commercials, nothing of value to us. It was just another reminder of how humanity can manipulate itself for profit.

I switched off the radio and turned back toward the Dixierats. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, you guys are better than that. But if you want to get a point across, we're going to walk into that fort and we're going to haul the Supreme Commander's ass out of his office. And then we're going to go to Electro and haul the Governor's ass out of his Executive Mansion and take him to the General Assembly. Let's not forget about the nine Supreme Court justices, they need to be taken care of as well."

Ray asked, "Why them?"

I said, "If you want to take a government hostage, you'll need to capture the key people who run it. Once you nail down all main three branches, the agencies and commissions associated with them will follow."

Another raichu raised her hand. _"How can you guarantee we won't be shot?"_

"We're not dealing with poachers, we're dealing with the general public and the government who leads them. That fort is loaded with people barely out of their teen years and the older folks knew me from another life. Even if they start shooting, we're too numerous to take down. Besides, they're trained to go to war with other humans. Not pokémon."

The raichu said, _"That's not what we saw back at Dixie when Unova sent troops to kick us out."_

"Must be some overflow from the Soho crisis. Tell you what, if you're so concerned about getting shot I will lead the charge myself and take whatever bullet comes our way. If the National Guard starts shooting, it wouldn't be at you."

The raichu held that thought for a moment. _"Okay, fair enough."_

I laid down on the bed and stretched out my legs. Water was trickling down the boulder but isn't really a problem. It actually kept me cool since the sheltered fire was keeping the shelter nice and warm. If any water did managed to get in here, it was going to be dry within a few minutes. I laid there for a moment, staring at the roof of the shelter. I wondered if the shelter can hold itself until morning, especially if the storm continues to pour down rain. _"We better get some sleep, guys,"_ I told the Dixierats in pokémon speech. _"Tomorrow, we'll be eating breakfast from the fort's pantry."_

The Dixierats added a few more logs to the fire, then huddled together for warmth. I closed my eyes, trying to get some sleep. Then Ray shook my shoulder. "Grandpa," he said. "Where are we going to live after all this?"

"We'll find a place in the short-term," I said without opening my eyes. "In fact, we'll rebuild that damn house. We'll make it bigger and build it like a castle."

"Way bigger than Andy's bunker?"

"It's going to be huge, maybe we can build a barn that's even larger than the actual farmhouse. I plan on making this farm self-sustaining. We make our own power, collect our own water, and grow our own food. We'll still be connected to the grid, but we can cut off all connections with a flick of a breaker switch."

"We're going back to our roots by moving forward."

That wasn't a question, I smiled, "Now you're thinking. We can't bring back the past, but we can take the old concepts and retro-engineer it in the Information Age. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, first we need to make sure our future is secure or we can kiss that dream goodbye."

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	34. Chapter 34

_Chapter 34_

The faint sunrays shining that day stirred me awake. The air was cold and humid. Condensation had collected over the walls of the tent, getting ready to rain. I got up and found the long-fire had burned down into embers, but was still putting out heat. The Dixierats that took refuge in the tent were still sleeping peacefully. Luckily it stopped raining but it was still very muggy out, the grass was thick with dew and the air ungodly humid. I looked down at Ray. His mouth was gaping open as he slept on his back, it almost looked like most of the condensation on the tent came from his breath. I reached down and touched his shoulder, and Ray's eyes opened.

"Get everyone ready, now. But don't wake up the mice pokémon in this tent."

Ray nodded, "Got it."

He sat up and stretched his arms. I jumped on his back as he carefully navigated over the sleeping chus. When we got to the mouth of the tent, I slid down and he left to go wake up the chus. I grabbed whatever wood we had left and bundled them neatly over the hot coals in a teepee, then I stuck a wad of kindling in its center. I watched the wood smolder until it caught fire. I fanned the flames with my hand until they matured. The heat from the rekindled fire raked passed me and over the sleeping chus. I could feel the condensation beginning to evaporate.

The majority of Dixierats in the camp had some form of shelter that held out during the night. They emerged groggy and tired with creeping hunger. Ray returned to me and I asked him to mobilize a trash cleanup. The Dixierats under our tent woke up, I opened up the trunk and passed around remaining food rations to the pichus, then examined the contents. I found a hunting knife, a multi-tool pliers, and a crowbar. Among all the gear, one tool that caught my eye. It was a hatchet-like tool covered and fitted with a number of smaller multi-tools. I pulled off its leather cover and inspected the ax. It has hexagon holes for tightening and loosening stubborn nuts, an oval hole for opening and closing gas valves, a foldable saw tucked inside the handle, a cord cutter, a wedge for prying nails and boards, there's also a thin slip of metal on the top of the tool that can also be used for prying. I have seen a load of multi-tools in my day but nothing this convenient. The best part about this tool, it's small and lightweight. I can easily carry this around without tiring.

I put the other tools back in its bag and place it back inside the trunk. I carried the tool with me outside where Ray returned. "We got most of the trash taken care of."

I looked behind him and saw a small mountain of trash being covered with still-hot coals from sheltered fires. That wasn't really a good cleanup job, but it will suffice. "Let's get everybody moving. We need to find the other camps and mobilize them. Let's hope the Dixierats can follow orders."

"They were bred to follow orders."

"A bit frightening, yet convenient." I had Ray hunch over as I climb on his back. I grabbed the multi-tool ax and held onto it with both hands, then pressed it down against Ray's shoulder blades while using my elbows to brace myself on his back. "Okay, let's get moving."

 **. . .**

I found it convenient to ride on Rayovac's back when traveling long distance. It gives my osteoarthritic knees a break, and lets me share the mutant mouse pokémon some of my power. Back at the height of my dreaded prestige with Irvin, I used to be a one pikachu army. Now I'm old as fuck, I cannot defeat a large opponent without suffering severe injuries. It was comforting to be on Ray's side. A rikachu is an unstoppable juggernaut. They will come, they will see, and they will conquer whatever is in their way. For the average pokémon around Ray's weight and lower, it is nearly impossible to take down a rikachu. For me, it isn't that difficult since I knew all the weak spots. Ray's front is well protected by muscle and belly fat. His sides and love handles get second place. His head has serious bone and neck muscles, the cranium possibly bulletproof to handgun fire. The joints, especially his knees, are his most vulnerable. His one good arm isn't doing him any favors besides hindering his performance. I thought about asking Ray if he wanted a prosthetic limb as a left arm, but for some reason something told me asking him wasn't a good idea.

Ray navigated the rough terrain with ease. Being around 47 years old, the rikachu's performance was good. I still wondered if Ray's age will start to cripple him, like it did to me, Polly, and our children. I watched as Ray crossed over across some thick gravel near a dried riverbed. His foot caught on a sizable rock and slipped, I reached out and touched his shoulder. "Ray, slow down. Don't hurt yourself."

The rikachu stopped and took a deep breath. "Oh boy, I better get off this gravel then."

The Dixierats following us kept a steady pace. They didn't walk in a single-file line, more like a mass group of individuals. I don't think they have any sense of a group, or a pack, not even a sect. All they have is a common leader, nothing more. I made a mental note to change that once I have bent Faraday to my will.

Ray slowed down and let the Dixierats catch up to him, then continued on course. We found our next mass group of Dixierats. This one larger than our current group. It didn't take much convincing, in fact it didn't take _any_ convincing at all. All I have to do is show my face and the Dixierats started cheering. They then merged with our group, doubling our numbers. I felt our strength growing stronger. The next group was just around the hill, holding a similar size. They assimilated into the main force. More groups started turning up, eventually we began to build a large mass of chus similar to what I saw when the _Experiment_ docked at Faraday City's port. When I felt we were ready, I instructed Ray to head directly to Fort Electro but told him to stay clear from the gate. I wanted our Dixierat army to take lead and get everybody distracted.

"Split up the force and have them enter the military base from all of their gates, then track down the Supreme Commander."

General Edward McNamara, the Supreme Commander of the armed forces of Faraday. His rank and position are similar to mine, but only I hold legendary status and god-like powers. He's just another man like the insubordinates under his command. I can only imagine the look on the average Faradian's face when they see his sorry ass on TV, taken hostage by me personally while I expose Irvin and I's true nature. If McNamara hadn't found shelter inside a classy bunker, he should be in the fort. He might be sitting in his office, pondering to himself on how he could grapple the _invasion_ and to lead a counterattack. Maybe he didn't believe Faraday Island wasn't being invaded at all, if the loss of the main grid didn't force him to act then the sight of all those mice pokémon barging through his front door should force him into reality.

So to do this properly, the Dixierats have to cut the power like they had done to Faraday City. And like Faraday City, Fort Electro has multiple mini power sources powering each individual building. I'm going to assume that there is some form of smart grid built into the base. A central terminal perhaps that I can use to kill power in the entire base. If that doesn't work, then the Dixierats will have to manually kill the power in each building. Regardless of how we do it, if we cut off all communications going to and from the military base the Governor will lose control of his armed forces and the National Guard will be cut off from command. But of course, that would be too easy since the sensitive electronics have UPS's built into them. If I'm feeling lazy enough, I'll disable the battery banks myself by urinating on the inverters.

We didn't wait for the others to get into position. All the Dixierats made a dash for the gates. The soldiers guarding the gates don't appear old enough to drink. The looks on their faces were priceless. They were trained to shoot people, not pokémon. They stood there like they were on a stage at an opera house, unsure what to do. Eventually one of them finally reacted and hit the button to shut the gate. That did absolute shit, because by the time he hit the button the Dixierats were all over him. They brought him to the ground, restrained him, and reopened the gate as it was just about to close.

Too easy.

I sat there and watched as the stream of Dixierats poured into the fort. They just kept coming through in a constant stream. It kind of reminds me of a syringe injecting a substance into an arm, or a tsunami rushing through. Two minutes after the first wave of Dixierats broke through Fort Electro, the intercom system squawked and exploded. A plume of sparks and smoke shot into the air. I heard screams, but no gunshots. I also heard a lot of sparks and shocks of electricity going off occasionally. If Faraday Island is under a state of emergency, would anyone expect extra security at the military base? I held that thought for a moment. I realized that if the National Guard was deployed everywhere, then chances are they were weak everywhere. Makes sense because Fort Electro didn't have the manpower to spare to protect their central command.

Or maybe McNamara had evacuated, retreating to an enclosed bunker. Even if he wasn't here, we wouldn't be wasting our time. The base would be ours, all we have to do is disable the power and kick out any opposing humans inside.

The last wave of Dixierats entered the fort. A few chus who were late for the party didn't run for the gate, they took their time and just walked. The Faradian flag still flew over the fort, I stared at it for a moment before touching Ray's shoulder. "Okay, Ray. Let's go find the central command building."

The soldiers guarding the gates were still pinned by the Dixierats. As Ray and I passed by I saw their M-16s strewn everywhere. The magazines were pulled out, bolts locked open, and the safety's switched to on. I guess Andy had trained some Dixierats in how to handle firearms, or maybe they were smart enough to realize how to handle a weapon. Whatever the case, it made things safer for us. As we entered the fort, we saw chaos. Both armed and unarmed soldiers were running everywhere, either chasing Dixierats or were being chased by Dixierats. A lot of them got swarmed, and those with weapons were disarmed. Some soldiers just sat down and petted the Dixierats. I saw one grunt scratching the back of a random pikachu. I rolled my eyes, Dixierats loved to be adored. Some soldiers managed to group together and barricade themselves on the roof of a few buildings. All their uniforms were the same, I couldn't tell what was their rank and status.

I spotted the command center, or I think I found the command center, since it was the largest insignificant building in the base and has a forest of antennas and satellite dishes on its roof. Before I made my way to the fort, I instructed Ray to stop by the Fort's flagpole. The flagpole was as thick as a dinner plate, and access to its rope was a small locked panel on the side of the pole. "Ray, boost me up to that panel."

"Got it, Tes!"

Ray boosted me up to the panel. I took the multi-tool hatchet and jammed the prying tool into the panel. Several Dixierats saw what I was doing and rushed to my side, eager to help. They stood by as I somehow broke the lock, muscling the panel open. I sat down the multi-tool ax on Ray's head and reached into the pole. I undid the ropes, then started lowering the flag. For a small pikachu it was hard work. The ropes were thick and it tired my hands, but at least there was enough room for me to actually pull down on the rope. The massive flag slowly came down to half-staff. Several Dixierats stood by.

 _"Don't let it touch the ground,"_ I ordered. _"Grab the flag and spread it out!"_

When the flag finally made it to our level. The Dixierats managed to catch the flag and stop it from flapping everywhere. It was a thick flag, feels like it was made out of carbon fibers such as Kevlar. I don't have to worry about it tearing as I undid the latches and set it free. The Dixierats grabbed the flag and spread it out as instructed. _"Fold the bottom end of the flag to the top."_

The Dixierats knew what was the top and the bottom. They folded it up into a ribbon, burying my silhouette that it displays. _"Okay, now fold it into a triangle. Start from the edge and make your way up to the white strap."_

The Dixierats just stared at me, I guess they have reached the limit of their knowledge. I face palmed, then jumped down. _"Here, let me show you."_

I took the edge and folded it into a triangle. I made the folds as tight as possible as I made my way up to the straps. The flag was so big that I had trouble holding it. The raichus offered some help by bearing some of the weight. Once it was in a triangle, I folded the white strap into the flag and handed it to one of the raichus. _"Someone get some thick cordage and tie it to his back, then return here and wait for me to come back."_ I then returned to Ray and climbed onto his back. _"Okay, let's go to the command center and confront McNamara."_

Ray jogged over to the command center. We found the front door forced open and the conjoining hallway dark. Nothing but emergency lights were on and a chorus of chus echoed inside. As we descended into the building, I expected a large central room with computers and shit. The building was huge after all, but a part of me was ready for disappointment. I found the main central hub alright, and it was dark as it was huge. Everything was running off of battery power, and those battery banks were screaming for mercy. The big screens I expected were glowing bright blue with _NO SIGNAL!_ displayed on them. Along with the emergency lighting, on

Among the alarms and chirps of power failure was the Dixierat orchestra of a hundred chirping chus and panicking human staff. The working stiffs were also wearing military camo uniforms. A few were frustrated from all the chus hopping all over their workstations, others tried to navigate through the crowds. Most were trying to safely shutdown all the computers to prevent precious data loss. Some Dixierats decided to complicate things by unplugging still active computers. It was funny to see the working stiffs scream from losing their precious data. The Dixierats probably set their work back for weeks, maybe even months.

I have no idea where to go in this vast building, and I was starting to think McNamara wasn't present. If he was hiding somewhere, it would be his office, the roof, or under an off-sight bunker. However I got lucky. There was a two-star general being pinned down by the Dixierats. I could tell by the green and purple officer cap sitting by the mass pile of chus. They have recognized he was a high-ranking official of some sort and decided to restrain him. Not the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, but a VIP nonetheless.

I got down from Ray and approached the pile. I pulled back my lips and let out a sharp whistle, the Dixierats on him moved aside to reveal the general in question. He was on his face, his had his hands covering the back of his head and his legs tight together. His hair was a mass of white, but his skin looks youthful enough. I approached the general and asked in human speech, "Sir?"

When he looked up, his face looked familiar. It took me a while to realize the general used to be one of the kids who battled Irvin back in the day. I didn't face him myself, but I sure remembered his name.

"Crowley," I said. "Haven't seen you in a long time."

"You talk?" General Crowley asked.

"I always had." And then I said, "Look, I've been dragged into this mess as much as you have. Irvin had been planning this for decades and now his plan is set in motion. So what division do you lead, sir?"

"National Guard."

"Where are the other chairmen?"

"Classified."

"Let me guess, somewhere in a fancy command bunker buried deep within Mount Faraday for shit like this."

General Crowley said nothing.

"I'll take that as so. No matter, it's McNamara I want. Is he with the chairmen?"

Crowley said nothing.

"Not that it matters because he's not going to do shit once I send a surge through his communication lines."

"How did you get in here?" Crowley asked.

"The front door, I walked in here unopposed. The Dixierats have already taken over the entire base, and to rub your face in it I pulled down that giant flag myself. I guess your politicians should have second thoughts in putting my likeness on that purple fabric you call a flag."

"What do you want?"

I said, "I already have your people, and now I want your government. But first, I will like to know where McNamara is."

"That's classified."

"As in you don't know?"

No answer.

"Well then, I'm not surprised. If there should be any military decisions that were to be made, it should be at the Executive Mansion with the Governor. This is a democracy after all. And if he's with the Governor, then he already did half the work for me. There's only one way to find out."

I touched Ray's good arm and said, "This here is my grandson, Rayovac Westinghouse. Like you, he's a general. A warlord of the Dixierat army. He's the byproduct of genetic inbreeding and gene manipulation. If this Island wanted another Tesla Westinghouse, this 'rikachu' will be as close as they get." I turned to Ray and said, "Tie Crowley up, we're going to take him with us to Electron."

 **. . .**

The Dixierats took their time cleaning out the base for things they need. Since food and water is always a top priority, they raided the canteen and its associated pantry. Conscripts in uniform stood around and watched as the chus rushed in and devoured anything that can be eaten. Those who tried to stop them were swarmed and restrained, a few soldiers took the time to adore a few chus. These troopers quickly gained popularity, huge circles of chus flocked around them hoping to be groomed.

We went to the vehicle storage unit looking for a large truck. Rows of Humvees and transport trucks lined the parking lot, ready to be driven. We found the guy in charge of keeping inventory of all the vehicles. He had bright red hair and was sitting pretty behind the reception desk of the parking lot administration building. His face was priceless when he saw me coming to him with an army of mice behind my back, including a group of them holding his restrained general against his very will. I caught sight of him reaching for his service pistol but was hesitating to use it. I simply walked up to him and hopped onto the counter.

"We need a truck, you have a driver available?" I asked.

Red blinked for a second. "Yes, we have one. I'll go call him up."

Red reached for the radio and picked it up. "Jill, we need you over to Sector Victor. A driver has been requested, over."

A female voice cracked through the radio. "I'm a little busy right now, trying not to get buried by the chus. Over."

"Jill, it's mandatory."

Jill grunted. "Fine, I'll be there. Over and out."

When Red stuck the receiver back in its cradle, Ray handed me a wad of pokédollar bills and I handed it to Red. "Here," I said. "If anyone asks, just say you were barricaded inside the next room when these mice had arrived."

Red nodded. "Yes, sir."

We waited for ten minutes for the driver to arrive. Jill didn't take long to show up. We watched her from the window as she walked to the service building. Unlike the mail conscripts where their hair was trimmed to a buzz, Jill's hair was trimmed to her ears. She was only armed with her service pistol, but nothing more. I stepped out of the service building and greeted her. "We don't have much time, but do you have a vehicle ready for us?"

Jill nodded, "Sir, right around here."

We kept Crowley out of site to prevent her from panicking. I walked beside her to the truck, using my charm to keep her docile and cooperative. "Here she is," she said. "This transport truck has seen a lot of action."

I could tell, the truck had past damage that was showing through the paint. Jill pulled out some keys and unlocked the driver-side door. I climbed in first and sat shotgun. As she climbed behind the wheel, I could hear Ray and the Dixierats loading General Crowley in the back. She peaked through the mirror and saw all the Dixierats. "Where you're heading?"

"The capital," I said. "I have a meeting with the Governor."

"About the infestation?"

"We got a lot of things to clear up."

I glanced at the dashboard. All the meters were analogue. Nothing, not even the radio, was digital. "How old is this truck?"

"It goes back decades," said Jill. "This truck doesn't even have a computer in it."

"I remember my trainer used to have a car that has a choke."

"What kind of car is it?"

"Red convertible."

"Cool."

Jill stuck the keys into the ignition and started up the engine. "I'm under orders not to leave the base, with the invasion in all."

"Who's your superior?" I asked.

"General Crowley."

"He's coming with us to Electron."

The back hatch opened and Ray stuck his head into the cab. "We're ready to go, Tesla!"

"Great. Sit tight, Ray." The back hatch closed. "Jill, the gate's no longer guarded. But be ready to stop for checkpoints."

Jill said, "You're Tesla Westinghouse?"

I said, "Yes, but most of the credit goes to my trainer. I'm on my own now."

She shook my hand. "Jill Testaburger."

"Pleasure to meet you."

We pulled out of the parking lot and made our way toward the North gate. We passed by huge crowds of Dixierats in the process of swarming buildings. I didn't realize how many chus there really was. It almost looked like there were more chus here than at Dixie. We passed by several buildings with soldiers on them. They watched us as we drove by. I got up on the dashboard and saw the Dixierats were creating a path for us. They all stood and waved, cheering. The North Gate was abandoned, replaced with raichu guard. One of them stupidly wore a captured helmet for show. Jill drove through the gate unimpeded and we were out of Fort Electro.

"So the mice pokémon are the invaders," said Jill.

I asked, "It took you that long to figure it out?"

Jill said, "Communications were cut days ago, we just got everything restored and the next thing we know those chus showed up. This is what we've signed up for but not for something like this."

"It's an invasion nonetheless, but you're really dealing with is a mass group of immigrants. These mice pokémon had been recently displaced from being hunted by Unova authorities. Now they come here, trying to look for a place to call home."

"But why did all the comms got cut?"

I said, "It's an invasion, what do you expect? There were insiders who planned this for years. Not sure who they are, but definitely people who were associated with my trainer."

"You're the leader?"

I shrugged, "It doesn't feel that way, I didn't know this was happening until days ago. Next thing I know I was dragged into this mess."

We drove through the trail and onto the main road. We were the only ones on the road save for the occasional FIPD squad car passing by. The trip to Electron took almost an hour. We stopped by multiple checkpoints. The guards didn't asked Jill to stop, the let her pass without question. I guess the uniform and the military truck is all the credentials we need.

"They're going to stop and search the vehicle when we get to Electron," said Jill. "What do you have back there?"

"My grandson and some relatives of mine."

I sat tight and held my breath. If they stopped and searched the vehicle, this would complicate things. I'm not going to worry about it, I trust the Dixierats are ready to bail out when needed. Jill slowed down, "Here's the checkpoint. There's going to be two of them, about 200 meters apart. Checkpoint Alpha will check my credentials, then Checkpoint Bravo will search the truck." Then she asked, "You sure you don't have anything incriminating in the back, do you?"

"What could be more incriminating than a van full of rats?"

She held that thought for a moment. "Shit."

 **. . .**

We approached the first checkpoint to Electron. I sensed Jill's heart rate starting to rise. I kept my cool. I simply slipped onto the truck floor and hid underneath the bench seat. Then I waited.

The van slowed to a stop as Jill rolled down the window. "Papers, please," the guard said.

Jill handed over her credentials, after one glance she handed them back. "Proceed to second checkpoint, be ready for inspection."

I saw her foot lift off the brake and press down on the clutch. The truck moved forward and continued down for another 200 meters. Around halfway, Jill asked, "You'll cover for me if things get bad, right?"

"I'll cover you, and so will those Dixierats in the back."

"Dixierats?"

"That's what they call themselves."

"Cute."

We continued down the road in silence until we reached the second checkpoint. Jill slowed to a stop, and this time she killed the engine. "ID, please," said the inspector.

Jill showed her credentials. "You have anything to declare?"

"Glock 19, sir. Loaded with a round in the chamber."

"Alright, please wait while we inspect your vehicle."

That was when things got interesting. I heard footsteps arch around to the back, the backdoor opened and the trucked jarred. There was struggle, and the truck went still.

"What was that?" the inspector said.

More footfalls arch toward the back, the second struggle got more violent. "What the fuck is going on back there!?" The inspector asked, he walked around the back and there was one more struggle. Then silence.

The back hatch opened and Ray appeared. "Okay, we're good to go."

"What did you do?" Jill asked.

"Taken care of the problem."

Ray shut the hatch, leaving Jill hanging with more questions than answers. I crawled back on the bench seat and said, "Jill, let's go. We don't have all day."

Jill shift the truck back in drive and we continued into Electron. The city streets were vacant. The only vehicles on the road were National Guard HUMVEEs and FIPD Interceptors. Not a single Dixierat was in sight. From what I could tell, the Capital Building, the Executive Mansion, and the Supreme Court Building sit on the outer edges of the inner core of the city. All three buildings are within sight of each other via roads, marked out in a triangle. City Hall sits at the center of the city, which is also visible from all the other government buildings. I asked Jill to pull up in an enclosed alley and had her kill the engine.

"Sit tight, I'm going to do something. Will you be alright with the others?"

Jill said, "There are people tied up in the back, are there."

Not a question. "Yes, one of them happens to be your superior.

I knocked on the back board and Ray pulled the hatch back. "Ray, get up on front and keep an eye on Jill. I'm off to do this one thing. If I'm not back until noon, assume the worst."

"Got it, Tes."

I threw open the door and jump out. Ray came running around the truck and hopped onto the bench seat. "Don't scare her, Ray."

"I won't."

Ray shut the door, then said to Jill. "So, you're single?"

I frowned, I thought about saying something but, fuck it, Ray will always be Ray.

I jogged down the alley on all fours, making my way onto the street. I moved fast, always checking over my shoulder. I didn't want to waste time, I had to find my way toward City Hall. Once there, I would climb onto the roof and alert the Dixierats. If Andy is correct, then there are large groups of Dixierats on standby ready to infiltrate the capital. Under a state of emergency, the National Guard would be deployed to protect the major cities. However, the most important of them all are Electron and Faraday City. Faraday City had fallen when the Dixierats first landed, so all the resources went into protecting the capital. I don't expect the National Guard to be stupid. In fact I believe they are learning about their compromised checkpoint right now due to a simple radio check. Once they get no response, they're gonna send somebody over there, find them missing, and increase the alert level. That would make my job harder, so I better get onto the roof of City Hall and call in my reinforcements before the National Guard could mobilize.

Moving on foot toward City Hall was the only easy part in this whole adventure. I have twenty years of experience in dodging patrols and hiding from humans. Breaking into City Hall was going to be the real challenge. When I got there, I found rows of HUMVEEs and transport trucks guarding City Hall in a 360 degree fortification. They had taken their time to set up sandbag fortifications and crowd barricades around the paths leading up to the entrances. Most of said entrances were boarded and barricaded. Machine gun nests and sniper posts dot the site. A yellow rat like me would stick out like a sore thumb. I began to search for a weak spot. I arched around City Hall, checking every detail. I wasn't having much luck. The National Guard had everything locked tighter than an asshole. The Island is under an invasion, had they figured they were being infiltrated by pokémon? Had the PRA been causing problems with them? What would happen if I show myself? Would they shoot me on sight or hesitate from shooting me?

After a minute of searching, I couldn't find any weak spots. I wasn't willing to wait all day for an opportunity, so I'll create one.

I searched the nearby buildings for anything useful. I found an abandoned auto shop, and in the back alley were used tires. I grabbed a few of them and stacked them in a pattern, I then used Iron Tail to bust through the backdoor to gain access into the auto shop. I found a canister of E-100 ethanol in the main garage, along with shredded paper in the office. I lugged the canister and the paper bin outside. I dumped all the shredded paper inside the tires before pouring soaking them with ethanol. I tossed the paper bin inside and sat the canister in the pile of tires, then I sparked it with Thundershock. The ethanol quickly caught fire, giving off a burning rubber smell and black smoke. The heat was already that intense, I ran out of the alley and crossed the street. When I got about a couple blocks away, I turned around and saw this huge plume of black smoke rising into the air. If that doesn't gain any attention, then I don't know what will. I returned to City Hall and checked the National Guard's reaction. They saw the smoke alright, and they were growing weary. I quickly ran around City Hall opposite of the fire and checked for an opening. Instead I saw the National Guard digging in. They knew this trick, and they weren't falling for it. Faradians weren't stupid. Rather than giving me an opportunity, the fire just alerted the National Guard that shit was going to go down.

Fuck it, I guess I'll run in there and go balls deep into their security.

I sprinted across the street, stopped at one of their sand barriers, then took a deep breath. I crept along sandbag wall up to this machine gunner. Before he knew it, I swung over and gave him a nasty shock. The guy glowed purple for a split second, then collapsed. His buddies heard that and were coming to his aid. I didn't have much cover on his side of the barrier, so I jumped back outside the barrier and waited.

"Phil," I heard someone cried out. I waited for a few seconds, "Oh shit, Phil!"

I leaped up and gave him a nasty shock, this time the flash of purple was brighter and bound to gain more attention. When his buddy went down, I checked their pulses. They were both alive, thankfully. Looks like I found the non-lethal range of my electrical abilities for humans. I made a dash toward City Hall jumping over more barricades. I had a sense of control, but it wasn't certain. I need to get up onto the roof. I wasn't going to worry about National Guard reinforcements because there wasn't an invading force to deal with, not yet anyways. I heard half a dozen footfalls behind me. I turned around and saw them running toward their friends. Not much time now, by the time I get up to the door they're going to send out a call for help. I better get this done now.

I wasn't going to climb up the face of City Hall to get on the roof; that shit only works in the movies, not to mention I'm not trying to be stealthy here. Speed is the name of the game. The side doors were sealed shut. I turned my tail into steel and swung it at the nearby window. The window was bulletproof, but somehow I managed to pop the window off of its pane. It hilariously tipped inward and fell flat on the ground in a satisfying crunching sound. The manufacturer didn't bother adding steel rods through the glass to make sure it holds, go figure.

There were less guys inside City Hall than there was outside, but these people were more strategically placed. The stairwells were guarded and the second and third floors were marked with snipers. When I jumped inside, there were already National Guard troops rushing toward the window. I managed to sprint down a hallway and took cover inside a janitor's closet.

"What in the world?" said one of the troopers. "What caused this?"

A moment of silence.

"Our position has been penetrated. Send out the alert."

A radio crackled. "All units, this is Echo Team Leader at City Hall. We have a possible intruder inside the building, lock everything down and keep your eyes peeled."

The radio crackled. "Multiple soldiers down, we need a medic! Over!"

I pressed my back against the wall and waited for the soldiers to move. One of them walked passed the closet door, I watched his shadow passed the lower crack of the door. He didn't stop or say anything, he passed by without any problems. When I felt the hallway was clear, I leaped up and caught the doorway and opened the door ajar. A soldier was still looking out through the broken window. I didn't waste time, I stuck out my hand and sent a bolt of electricity toward the guy. He yelped and collapsed in a flash of purple light.

I stepped out of the closet and tried to locate the emergency stairwell. I could hear more soldiers behind me. My electricity isn't exactly silent and this is not a video game. Things were going hectic pretty fast.

"Where's the bastard!?" Another guard cried in the next room.

I found the emergency stairwell at the end of the hall. The door was wide open, I ran in and rushed up the stairs as more activity picked up. They were beginning to narrow down my trail, I was running out of time. I climbed up to the second stairwell, that door was open too. Soldiers were also in the other side, somehow they didn't see me. I kept going, climbing toward the top.

When I reached the third floor, a soldier was in the process of closing the top stairwell fire door. I sent a bolt of electricity at him. The guy exploded in purple light and skidded across the hallway. I started up the stairs toward the roof. The adrenaline was kicking, I wasn't sure if I could make it out of this without being captured or killed.

I reached the top of the stairwell only to find the door to the roof was shut and locked. Not a problem. I built up a charge and unleashed a Thunderbolt against the door. The boom of lightning made my ears ring as it surged into the door. The door exploded, the Thunderbolt ripped it off its hinges and thrown it across the roof. When I reached the roof, I discovered I wasn't alone. Snipers and their spotters were sitting around the corners. As I charged onto the roof, one of them caught sight of me as I sprinted for cover.

"Command, this is Echo Sniper Team Charlie, we have visual on the intruder! Pikachu, mouse pokémon! This is not a joke, over!"

Command radioed back. "Confirm visual, over."

The flag that flies above City Hall was mounted on top of a wide pedestal in the center of the roof. The flagpole stood ten meters tall, around half the length of the flagpole in Fort Electro. I leaped on top of the pedestal and climbed over its concrete rail, I jumped down and rushed over to the flag. I jumped onto the South rail and stared out for Electron.

I raised my hands to the sky.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	35. Chapter 35

_Chapter 35_

The last time I unleashed an electromagnetic pulse on this scale was back at Dixie, and it incapacitated me. This time I still had strength, and best of all I didn't throw up. Transformers blew around Electron, the air around me reeking with fresh ozone. A commotion around City Hall was stirred up, for a moment the whole world was on a standstill. My whole body glowed purple as tongues of electrical energy wisps through the air. I was once again in full static mode, and this time my mind was clear. The snipers posted on the roof came around to the pedestal, raising their pistols. Before they could react, I stretched out my hand and magnetized it. Their guns flew out of their hands toward me. I clenched my hand into a fist, the firearms flew passed me and arched over the edge of the roof, down to the ground below. I then hammered my fist down and all the snipers around me dropped to their knees. They all screamed, complaining of massive cramps. Some of them twitched violently as they tried to command their muscles. Unfortunately I was in control.

With the snipers no longer a problem, I turned my attention to the flag flying above City Hall. I climbed up the flagpole toward the top, I undid the connections to the awful purple flag and let it fall. The flag drooped into a rag and fluttered onto the roof of City Hall, I climbed down the flagpole and approached the fallen flag. I spread it out and folded it up into a triangle. I then carried it over to one of the down snipers where I undid his belt and used it to strap the flag onto my back. I took my time walking back down the stairwell toward the main entrance. It was wide open as several humans tried rushing in. They took one good look at me and panicked, without moving a muscle I disarmed their assault rifles and brought them to the floor.

"The radio's not working," one of the soldiers outside cried. "It's an EMP!"

When I stepped out onto the South yard of City Hall, several National Guard troops scramble into positions. They don't need to look far to see who the threat really was as one soldier turned and saw me. "Shit, it's Tesla!"

"What is he doing?!" another cried.

I called out to him. "Defeating you!"

One of the commanding officers of the platoon showed up, his face cherry red. He held up his M-16 and aimed it at me. "Open fire on Westinghouse!"

A few bullets came toward my direction, none of them managed to penetrate my electric force field. I sat there with a stupid smile of my face as these dumbfucks tried to shoot me dead. "No damage to Alpha Target!" cried the nearest soldier to me.

I said, "So this is what the Faradian National Guard has to offer. Let me show you what I have in store!"

I simply disarmed all the troops in my line of sight. M-16s shot straight into the air, their users scrambled in a mad dash for cover. I stomped the ground and all the troopers bounced about a meter into the air before crashing on concrete. The commanding officer pulled out his service pistol, a Glock 17, and tried to aim it at me. I let him squeeze off a few shots, the bullets bounced off my electromagnetic field without harm. I simply walked down the steps and approached him. He kept firing bullets until his gun started clicking, the military officer pulled out the magazine and checked it. "Shit!"

I force the gun into the sky and just stared at him. "You, sir, are caught with your pants down."

"What?"

I magnetized the metal strappings of his belt and forced his pants down, then forced the commanding officer on his ass. I chuckled, "A lot more entertaining than challenging other pokémon."

I jogged across the street and disappeared back into the alleys. Rather than heading straight back to the truck, I zigzagged through several blocks to make sure I wasn't being followed. I then returned to the truck, it hadn't moved since I left it. I rushed up to the passenger-side door and knocked.

The side door opened up and Ray appeared. "You're back!"

"Reinforcements are on the way," I took off the belt strap and handed the flag to Ray. "Here's another flag for the collection."

"What did you do?" Jill asked.

"I climbed up onto the roof of City Hall, created an EMP, and stole the flag flying overhead before I left."

"That explains why the radio died."

Ray jumped out of the cab and returned to the back of the truck. I hopped in and closed the door. "Next stop, the Executive Mansion. But park the truck well away from the building, somewhere that is inconspicuous."

Jill started up the engine and drove back onto the main road. The whole city felt dead. All the streetlights were off, their computers fried from my EMP. Jill slowed to a stop at all the streetlights, then continued down the road. Around halfway to the Executive Mansion, we saw two cops pushing his disabled squad car onto the side of the road. All the lights on his car were dead and his hood was up. They didn't pay any attention to us as we drove by. Why they didn't wave a hand for help was beyond me.

"Everybody is cut off from their superiors," said Jill.

"And their superiors are disconnected from each other," I said. "It goes both ways, everybody in Electron is in the dark. The only things that does work besides analogue vehicles are batteries and electric window openers."

"Batteries?"

"Batteries are solid-state, they are a power source and not delicate circuitry. EMPs don't affect them."

We heard some banging in the back, then Ray opened the back hatch. "Guys, we need to stop. These chus back here aren't feeling too well."

"We're just about there, Ray. Sit tight and wait until I get back there."

Ray closed the shutter. Within a moment we heard the back door banged open. The back hatch opened again. "One of them puked."

I said, "Jill, pull up in the alleyway here and turn off the engine."

"Got it."

Jill pulled the truck into another alley and parked by the side wall and killed the engine. I got out of the vehicle and rushed over to the back. The trunk door was down and it was covered with vomit. Several chu heads were sticking out, all appearing nauseous.

"What happened to them?" Jill asked as she rushed by my side.

"The EMP assaulted their nervous system and incapacitated them all. Except Ray, he's immune for some reason."

I could make out the outlines of our captured human prisoners in the sea of Dixierats. The chus had buried our hostages with their bodies so Jill wouldn't see them and so they wouldn't see Jill. Clever. Ray climbed out from the back and jumped down to stretch his legs. "So what do we do now?"

I said, "We wait."

 **. . .**

We didn't have to wait long. Over the course of ten minutes, we heard loud chirping in the distance. I stepped out of the alleyway and saw a horde of mice chus coming down the road. I wasn't shocked, I was horrified. There were so many Dixierats that I almost believed the bulk of them came directly from Faraday City. Ray was by my side in a flash, I hopped onto his back and managed to create some distance between us and the Dixie horde. "Ray, head to the Executive Mansion. It's time to deal with Governor Norman."

"Aye, sir!"

As Ray quickly got ahead of the group, I held up my small gizmo hatchet and waved it to the Dixierats. Like the initial horde at Faraday City's port, the front was made up of raichu brutes while their lesser variants follow from behind. They cheered at the top of their voices as Ray and I steered them toward the Executive Mansion.

The compound was huge, the Executive Mansion itself spanned 60 meters long and 30 meters wide. The perimeter was three times larger, surrounded by a four meter tall rod-iron fence. It was a beautiful structure, flowers and rose shrubs were planted around the rim of the Executive Mansion. It had its own vegetable garden, a solar panel array and wind turbines on the roof. I never been to the Executive Mansion during my Westinghouse years, but Irvin has, as he was invited to attend as a VIP guess. I didn't attend the dinner party because I was away on one of my alone time moments, I only heard about what happened a few days after I returned home.

Due to its significant role in government, the Executive Mansion is the most defended structure on the Island. The Secret Service and a Faradian Marine platoon defend the compound around the clock. Under a state of emergency, I have no doubt that the Governor is stuck in his situation room. But since I fried out all sensitive electronics in Electron, the Governor is either going to take refuge in his specially built panic room or is going to be escorted out of the Executive Mansion through the underground tunnel network, which is also used to shuttle sick pokémon between pokémon centers in an emergency. If this was a human invasion, the Governor would've bailed a long time ago into an undisclosed secret bunker. But since this is a pokémon invasion, he would have trouble figuring out what to do. The Dixierats weren't aggressive, they hadn't done anything more than caused vandalism and destruction to critical infrastructure and it was all for their own personal amusement and pleasure. By now he should realize he should've bailed when he had the chance.

I led the Dixierat army up to the side gate. A soldier in a black marine uniform was manning the gate. He was putting something together in the kiosk when he saw us coming. The marine dropped the gear and retreated to the Executive Mansion, shouting something at the top of his lungs. The gate was supposed to slide open via an electric motor, but with the electricity disabled we have to improvise. I crouched down and supercharged Ray, then kicked him in his kidney. "Mush! Mush! Floor it!"

"Choo Choo!" Ray chirped as he charged for the rod-iron gate.

Ray slammed into it, the gate swung inward and was thrown off its hinges. One side of the gate smashed against the security kiosk, smashing the windows. The other was chucked into the yard where it was wedged into the bushes. We continued up the road toward the driveway and veered off toward the side entrance. The doors looked like fancy garden screen doors, but I wasn't fooled. These doors were fitted with bulletproof glass and interlocking vault door locks, it can withstand the blow of an RPG. I wondered if it could withstand a charging rikachu.

The mutant mouse pokémon slammed his shoulder against the door, the glass cracked but the door held. I could see Faradian marines waiting for me inside, armed and ready to defend this place. They were going to open fire the moment I stepped through that door.

"Ray, get back!"

Ray stepped back and I stood on his shoulders. I borrowed some of his electricity to unleash a powerful Thunderbolt upon the door. The door exploded and the room inside flashed bright white. When we rushed inside, we saw all the soldiers on the ground, incapacitated. When the Dixierats followed us inside, I gave out orders. _"Disarm all humans and disengage their weapons, then sit on them! Remember, we gotta find the Governor! He'll be in the panic room assuming he's still here!"_

The Dixierat rushed over the marines and disarmed them. Once they were no longer a threat, I advanced into the Executive Mansion. The first stop was the executive office itself to pick up the Governor's trail. I found his office in the East Wing of the mansion. I got off of Ray and began to inspect the office.

The floor was a thin tan carpet covered with tiny purple polka dots, border lining the room was thin purple carpet of a darker shade. The walls have a nice white shade of wallpaper with crisp rimmed borders. Two small sofas were positioned at an inward angle by the fireplace, at close inspection it appeared to be just for show. Judging from the state of the office, it appeared that the Governor had left in a hurry. The window blinds were drawn and papers were strewn across the floor. His desk, an antique mahogany oak piece of furniture, was bare. I walked up to it and hopped onto his office chair. The chair was stiff, undoubtedly made of Kevlar.

"On to something?" Ray asked.

I opened the Governor's drawer and found a notebook laptop, it looked identical to Mark's notebook but instead of my outline it had the Governor's seal on it. I pulled it out of the drawer, opened it up, and tried to turn it on. Nothing, the EMP killed it.

I stuck the notebook back into the drawer and said, "Sniff out the Governor's scent, he must've gone through the secret tunnel network of his Mansion."

Ray crawled up to the chair and sniffed it, then he sniffed the air. "Got it, the scent leads right through that wall."

I jumped back on Ray and looked where he was pointing. The wall in question looked innocent enough, but upon closer inspection I could make out a faint outline by around the rims of the wallpaper. "Okay, now all we have to do is get it-"

Ray built up a charge and zapped the wall. My ears deafened as the wall exploded. I lost my balance, nearly falling of Ray. I caught his fur and pulled myself back up. "Damn it, Ray! Warn next time!"

I checked out his handiwork, a gaping smoldering maw revealed a tunnel at other side of the wall. I smiled, "We got the trail, let's get him."

Ray and I descended into the tunnel. It was dark and dank, the walls and floors were pure concrete, covered with pipes and dust-covered lights. With the power out, there was no way for the Governor to see where he and his security detail was going. Ray and I had the advantage in the dark, our night vision is more tuned for this level of darkness. The world slowly gave way to a soft blue glow, enabling us to navigate the secret tunnel network without bumping into things. The further we descended into the tunnels, the more we heard strange noises. We could make out the faint echoes of our Dixierat brethren storming the Executive Mansion's main rooms. There was some gunfire and a few humans screaming commands, but nothing else.

We went down a flight of stairs, then stumbled onto a series of corridors. Ray turned right, then left, before going straight. It didn't take long before we were greeted by a large vault-like door. Handprints and grease covered the face of the door, this vault was used recently.

"The panic room," said Ray.

I said, "Don't charge into this one, Ray. Let me handle this."

I gripped my hands on both of Ray's shoulders and had him brace himself in front of the door. "We're going to build up a charge, and on three you charge me up. I should be able to use my newly found powers to force the locks on the door to open, but I doubt it's going to work."

"It's worth a shot though."

"Well, yeah. I guess." I tapped his shoulder. "Okay, get ready. One, two, three!"

Ray unleashed his electricity into me and I used the boost to magnetize the door. The vault-door groaned like a carnivorous beast. I heard the interlocking spokes begin tearing at their seams. The concrete surrounding the rim of the door began to crack. I buried my nails into Ray's fur and give it all I could, but the stubborn door wouldn't budge. "Fuck, come on!"

Our Dixierat brethren showed up, they piled into the room before us. They stood there for a brief moment before I croaked, _"Thundershock me, give it all you got!"_

About four dozen chus charged up and zapped me. I glowed bright yellow as I felt a massive surge through my system. Ray gave one final boost, and then I added mine. The lightning changed from yellow to purple. The door buckled and cracked. Finally the concrete rim give way and the door swung open with the force of a car crusher. I swear the door hit the side wall so hard I almost thought it would bring the whole building on top of us. But no, the structure held, and the panic room was open.

I looked behind me and saw electrical shield enveloping all of the chus. I was amazed, did I gave them those shields or did they do it on their own? Whatever, all that matters is that the shields should stop incoming bullets, leaving no chance for the Governor's security detail to harm us.

"Here goes nothing," I said.

I sat pretty on Ray's back as he walked into the room, amazingly the panic room had power. The lights were damaged from my vault cracking stunt, a few were burned out, the rest that remained on struggle to stay lit. Several computers inside the bunker had failed and were suffering from blue screens. If the panic room's designed spared the electronics inside the room, my stunt finished them off. The Dixierats gathered behind us as we confronted the Governor. There he was, sitting behind a large desk with his top advisors and officials. His security detail surrounded him, his wife, and his son. I noticed Supreme Commander McNamara among the fray. I smiled, I had the executive branch under my thumb.

"Miss me, Norman?" I asked.

His security detail rose their guns as we approached, I raised my hand and forced the weapons out of their grips. A few rounds went off as they slid across the table, some struck the walls while others buried themselves into the computers, and fortunately no one was hit. Once all the guns were on the conference table, I forced my hand down and crushed them into the wood. "Irvin Westinghouse sends his regards." I said.

"What do you want?"

I said, "Your Island, of course. I already have your people, and now I will have your government."

I used my electrical powers to force everybody against the wall. The secret service detail slammed into the wall as the advisors and military generals flew out of their chairs and into the walls. I had the Governor himself stumble forward, he toppled over the conference table and fell flat on his face. "Your blood is mostly made up of Iron, enabling me to use my electricity to magnetize it, giving me the ability to move you around like psychokinesis."

The Dixierats then moved in to pin him down, hilariously enough they picked him up and carried him. "Next top, the Capitol Building. I want the General Assembly to see how you let this shit happen."

I shot a glance at McNamara. "You, sir, should really recheck your security forces. They let us in at Fort Electro, General Crowley offered no resistance when we brought him down and hogtied him."

McNamara said, "How are you doing this? Why are you doing this?"

I said, "Irvin, it was all Irvin. I didn't know this was happening until several days ago. Now here I am, following my dead trainer's last order."

"Which is?"

I stared at him, then pointed two fingers toward my eyes. "To tell all of Faraday what was really going on behind these goggles."

 **. . .**

The Dixierats hauled off all the advisors and military generals out onto the street as the Dixierats finished cleaning out the Executive Mansion. I sent Ray to fetch the truck, Jill pulled the truck up to the mansion and I forced the Governor and all of his associates inside. I then stuffed the back with Dixierats, even added Ray back in there just for safe measure. I returned to Jill in the cab and said, "To the Capital Building."

We drove straight there, literally, thanks to the road network. I looked back at the Executive Mansion and saw the purple flag flying above it being taken down. Either it was because of the Dixierats or someone else, I don't know. When we reached the capital building, we found it swarming with Dixierats. The National Guard barricades were overwhelmed. Soldiers were either forced off the grounds or were just sitting pretty. None of them reacted when I paraded their leaders out of the truck and up the concrete stairs. The large flag flying above the capital building was taken down, amusingly enough replaced with a black flag marked with a red punk-style circle-A. Someone must be waiting to use that flag for a long time, why else would they keep such a flag around.

We push through the main doors of the lobby and were greeted with more Dixierats. They covered the marble floor, clustered together in the usual Dixierat groups. I had everyone go to the west wing, which holds the House of Representatives. This room is also designed to accommodate the Senators who sit in a balcony overlooking the House Chamber. When we got there, we found the whole place swarming with Dixierats and the place dark. To light up the chamber an array of electric lanterns were set up around the chamber, giving off enough ambient light for us to see. I could make out the senators on the top balcony already seated in their designated spots, which was swarming with Dixierats. The House floor had Dixierats running all over the place. They climbed over the reps, over their desks. Some managed to befriend them while others humorously swat at them to keep them away. Sitting in the front row were the Faradian Supreme Court justices, all nine of them, and they were showing mixed reactions of the situation.

I asked myself how the Dixierats organized an event like this, and then I discovered several non-chu pokémon in the fray. Unovan non-electric type pokémon, bi-pedal, armed with assault rifles. And then it occurred to me, the Pokémon Resistance Army had stepped in to mobilize such a move. But who gave them the orders?

I didn't have to wait long until I spotted Smugleaf, Wotter, and Woody sitting against the back wall. The swoobat, who was the first swoobat of Nobark's recon air force, was hanging off the edge napping. I let Ray handle escorting the bulk of the executive branch and joined up with the others. When Smugleaf spotted me, she shot up and gave me a hug. Wotter and Woody just shook my head, both were pleased to see me.

 _"You moved them all?"_ I asked in pokémon speech.

Woody said, _"We saw your purple bolt of lightning shoot straight into the sky. Andy got everyone in place right after we dropped you off at Fort Electro. We all carried out the actual invasion after you killed the lights."_

Smugleaf said, _"Mark's bringing in reporters and camera crews from the Faraday News Network, he's also taking the time in looting the nearby buildings for goodies since this is anarchy."_

 _"Anarchy? We've just literally took a government hostage. By the way, did you find the city's mayor anywhere?"_

Wotter said, _"We don't know where he is, we searched far and wide. We're not too worried about it, what matters is that the whole Island is grounded. It's economy, armed forces, everything is at a standstill."_

Woody said, _"Soho was a disaster, but that doesn't matter. We're in control now."_

I nodded. _"And to do this right, we'll need to keep this peaceful. Have the PRA conscripts deployed around the perimeter of the Capital Building, and keep them away from the House Chamber. Barricade all doors and windows, including the basement. I know Faraday by heart, they'll try to gas the whole place before storming in to retake the Capital Building."_

Smugleaf said, _"To make sure they're not gonna do that, we better get this whole place on TV so Faraday could see it."_

I looked up at Swoo I and let out a sharp whistle. The courting pokémon jumped and lost his grip on the rail, Wotter jumped and managed to catch him in time. I walked up to him and turned him upright. _"Good to see you again, Swoo."_

Swoo I blinked. _"Tesla!"_

 _"I got a job for you, fly around the Capital Building and keep an eye out for anybody coming. If friendlies, enemies, or a neutral party shows up, we gotta know about it. If you see anybody coming this way, fly down and report directly to me. Got it?"_

Swoo nodded. _"Yes, sir!"_

I let go of Swoo I and he sprang into the air, then flied out the door.

 **. . .**

We played the waiting game for a few minutes, then an hour. The lack of power made the air stuffy and the temperature was dropping. The cold spell complicated things, most of the pokémon here were below twenty kilograms and we didn't plan on the lack of power. I had an idea about rigging the electric furnace with car batteries to get it back up and running, but then I remembered that furnace had delicate circuitry in it. The EMP had most certainly fried it. We sat and waited for Mark to arrive.

Swoo came back and told us that Mark was arriving, along with an array of police cars, SWAT vans, and National Guard troops. I instructed the PRA to make sure all the doors and windows were barricaded, we even had some troops up on the roof to make sure the SWAT team won't be dropped onto the roof. I returned to the lobby where Mark was rushing in some equipment. He handed me a satellite phone and some radio equipment. "The negotiator will contact you through the satellite phone and the radio. They'll be here in a few minutes."

"Can you figure out how to get the heater back up and running?" I asked.

"I'll try my best, but in case I fail I'll ask Henry to bring in some propane heaters for you. I'll even set up a generator outside so you can snake in several space heaters into the house chamber."

"Get two generators, one for the heaters and one for the news crews to power their cameras and lights."

Mark nodded, "I'll see what I can do."

I sat there in the pitch darkness with the PRA leaders and Ray, huddling around a battery-powered lantern. I had the satellite phone in my hand as Ray manned the radio, and we waited to negotiator to call us.

"Hello," I heard a voice from the phone. "Is anyone there?"

I raised the phone to my ear. "Tesla Westinghouse speaking, how can I help you?"

"I'm here on behalf of the Faraday Island Police Department, can you please tell me what is going on inside the Capital Building?"

"No power, not sure about water. We have your entire government in the House of Reps chamber, literally everybody is covered with pokémon. The mice pokémon isn't something to worry about, it's the non-chu pokémon that could cause harm here."

"Where is the Governor?"

I said, "With us."

"What are your demands?"

He sounded like a robot, running off of a pre-made script. I said, "Get the power back on throughout the Island and re-establish communications for the Faradian News Network. Have them control all FM and AM radio channels and all TV channels switched to FNN. Announce this through the emergency alert system. If we're going to talk, I want the entire Island to listen in to what we have to say."

"I have to go talk to my superiors about this."

"I have your superiors' superiors with me. If they're not going to let you call the shots out there, then we're not talking until someone gets the ball rolling. Over and out."

I killed the phone and sat back down. "What did he say?" Smugleaf asked.

"He's going to try to pull some strings, but it's not going to be easy. Bureaucracy difficulties."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, and then Mark showed up. "The heater's computer is fried, I can't get it up and running without getting a new computer module installed."

"How cold is it going to get out there?"

"Pretty cold when night falls, but that's going to be an inconvenience. We're getting some generators sent in and the FNN crews are right outside."

I nodded, "Are they ready to set up shop?"

"They're getting ready."

"Then go out there and lead them in here."

I checked the satellite phone's directory and found the negotiator's phone number. I dialed it and raised the phone to my ear.

"Yes, Mr. Westinghouse?" said the negotiator.

"What is your name?"

"Richard Louis."

"Well, Louis. I have a guy who's going to run in and out of here providing supplies for the hostages and the Dixierat crew. His duties are hereby not to be hindered in anyway. He is instructed to bring in the news crew inside the Capital Building, they are to come and go as they please. You can use the FNN's cameras to see what is going on in here and must be visible for the entire Island and world to see, the footage shall be live and unedited. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes. Yes, I hear you."

"Know this, if anyone starts shooting on your end then the PRA will retaliate. These pokémon have a deep hatred in humanity and I have a fragile control over them. If the PRA troops are becoming tense, I'll kick them out for you to take into custody. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do."

"Okay, now get those comms back up and running. Over and out."

 **. . .**

Mark directed the camera crews into the House Chamber and showed them where to set up the cameras. Extension cords were snaked in from outside. Generators were activated and their equipment is powered up. Mark managed to get the propane heaters as promised, he sat one unit by us along with several portable propane canisters. He then set up several electric heaters in the main floor. Mark hooked the heaters up to extension cords and turned them on.

When the cameras were set up, I asked Mark to go out to see if the comms were back on. The news crew activated their cameras, confirmed that they were working. I rang up Louis on the satellite phone.

"How are we on the comms, Louis?"

"We got power restored, the Dixierats around the power plant cooperating. We're now switching control of the EAS to the Faraday News Network."

"You have a TV ready?"

"Yes, yes we do."

"Is our calls being heard over the radio?"

A moment of silence. "It is now."

I turned to Ray, he activated the radio and put on headphones. "Alpha, bravo, charlie."

Ray gave the thumbs up.

"Okay, do you have TV footage?"

Louis said, "Let me check . . . Yeah we can see the inside of the House Chamber."

I covered the phone and called out to the camera man. "Aim the camera toward Governor Norman, someone put some light by his side so we can see him."

A Dixierat carried a lantern over to the Governor and handed it to him. The cameraman roll the camera over to him and stuck up his thumb. I raised the phone back to my ear. "Who do you see on the TV?"

"Governor Norman."

"What is he holding?"

"An electric lantern."

"Okay, now we can get down to business."

Louis said, "What are your demands?"

I said, "I have possibly thousands of mice pokémon who are displaced and are in need of a new home. These chus are here to stay, I have no say over where they go because they are a mass group of individuals and not a single unit. They have families to worry about and in need of a secure food supply. Set up a commission made up of concerned Faradian citizens to address the issue. This must be done immediately, I have no more to say to you until I get a list of names delivered to me before the sun is set. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, I hear you. But may I ask?"

"Please do."

"Why immediately?"

"Because time is money and we have a tight schedule. Once you get your candidates, send them over to the Capital Building. Instruct them to set up camp in the lobby, my people will feed them the information they need to get started."

"Got it, I'll be back with your commission."

"Don't keep me waiting."

I ended the call and turned to Ray and the PRA leaders. "Okay, we have two factions of pokémon on the Island. Your knowledge about them will be imperative. Ray, I need you to be on your best behavior when Richard Louis sets up the commission to solve the Dixierat's needs. You're going to need your Cousin Bruiser to help you on this."

Ray said, "Oh boy, this is a whole new level of politics. I don't know if I could do this."

"Get Andy to help you, in fact let's get him over here and introduce him to the commission. I trust that Louis will pick the right people for the job."

 **. . .**

The waiting took hours. We were getting hungry and bored. Supplies were being brought in by Mark and his close associates. Henry and Carley strolled in with a huge cooler, inside were full of MRE's, nutrient bars, and canned goods. Blankets were also brought in, I took one and wrapped Smugleaf with it. I even positioned the portable heater so it was facing her. Smugleaf leaned against the wall and rest as if she was trying to fall asleep. Mark came up to me and said, "Tesla, I need to talk to you. It's urgent."

I got up and followed him out toward the lobby. "What's going on?"

"That EMP you caused, it killed several Dixierats. Andy had arrived at Electron's pokémon center and discovered several corpses of chus, along with a dozen more gravely ill. According to his prognosis, the chus had suffered sudden neurological illnesses such as seizures, blindness, and paralysis. Some chus suffered from overcharge and died, those who survived later suffered other neurological ailments. This is worse than the EMP you created back at Dixie."

"Will this be used against me?"

Mark shrugged, "Right now, no. In the long term, maybe. We're keeping this closed nip, but the billions of pokédollars of damage you created to the electronics here will receive the greatest attention. Luckily most of the data is backed up at Mount Faraday, but replacing the hardware is going to be a pain in the ass."

I said, "Can you go get Bruiser and bring him here? We're getting some people together he needs to talk to."

Mark said, "Oh, by the way. Andy is leading the commission. Louis has even tracked down some scientists who worked on the breeding program with either Polly or your children. I heard they're more than curious to see what their work has become."

"Their work? It's my genes. I'm the one who made their careers and I'll bring them down if I choose."

"Then how come you haven't done so already? The evidence you already have would force them to compensate you, if we do a little digging they're basically finished. You have them under your thumb, so play nice. Don't make them feel afraid of you, you saw what happened to Nobark when he used intimidation on the pokémon who served him."

I blinked. "That's something to think about when I speak to the general masses."

Mark laughed, "There you are with your advanced vocabulary. You are vastly intelligent, Tesla, and you let your intelligence dictate your emotions. That's why it's so easy to challenge you, your anger burns up a lot of your energy when you needed it the most."

I was about to unleash a tantrum on Mark when he scooped me up and started scratching my belly. I felt my muscles relax and every joint in my body easing tension. I groaned, and then I breathed out. "Oh you like that," said Mark. "How about this?"

Mark turned me over and scratched my back, it felt even better. "Damn you," I groaned. "Damn you, damn you, damn you!"

"Easy bud, you need to relax."

Mark took me back to the others and sat me among the group. I scooped up some blankets and laid down in them, Mark rubbed my ears for a few seconds before turning to Ray. "Ray, we're going to need you at the lobby when Andy arrives."

"Andy?" he asked.

"And Bruiser."

"Oh boy!"

Ray took off the headphones and rushed over to the lobby. Smugleaf stepped up to the radio and put on the headphones. "How we're getting clear reception?"

Mark said, "I stuck the end of a wire on the antenna and unraveled the spool outside, then used paracord to carry it to the top of the building where we taped it to one of the flag poles."

"That works?"

"Apparently."

Ray and Mark walked over to the lobby, I clenched the satellite phone in my hand. So far I sensed no signs of a possible police raid, but I must keep my guard up. But with the public watching, a possible raid on the Capital Building would not go unnoticed, and there could be a chance of civil unrest if I were to get injured or killed. Faraday's citizens have revolted for me before and they would do so again. But do they have the energy and motivation for another protest? I'm not sure, but I got a feeling I find out soon enough.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	36. Chapter 36

_Chapter 36_

The day was drawing to a close, but the negotiations were just getting started. Andy arrived around sunset along with an array of Faradian citizens. Half of them had doctorates in Pokémon Medicine and Psychology, the other half had an array of degrees in construction, welding, ecology, culinary, and economics. These were respected people in their fields, or so I was told. I'm not going to judge them until I see their performance. With the satellite phone in my hand, I walked up to them and introduced myself. Ray cared enough to give me a boost, others kneeled to try to get around my level to shake hands. Initial impressions told me these were the right people, I just wondered how much convincing it took for them to come here.

Bruiser was within the fray, he had already become acquainted with these people and was already dropping details of his life. I walked up to Andy and asked, "How are things on the home front?"

"We were on the TV listening to the negotiation itself. Everybody is, the moment when you talked about getting a commission for the Dixierats I just packed my bags and left for Electron."

"How's Matt?"

"He's doing okay, and he's worried about you."

"And Polly and Wheels?"

"Worried as well."

Andy handed me a piece of paper. "These are the list of names of the people here along with their professions, have Louis rattle them off for confirmation."

"Got it. Thanks, Andy."

I returned to the House Chamber. It was still dark. The senators and representatives were already taking off their business coats and ties. Some were even sleeping on their desks over cots and sleeping bags. The Dixierats gave them space, walking around them as they navigate the House Chamber. Governor Norman and his family sat where they were first dropped off hours earlier. They had already fallen asleep, trying their best to stay comfortable as a whirl of activity flocked around them.

I rang Louis up. "Yes, Tesla," he said. "What do you need?"

"The committee is here, can you provide a list of names of the people attending."

"Yes, I can."

I held up my version of the list by the electric lantern. "Read them out loud."

There was a pause, then Louis began. "Stephen Michell, Welder. Doris Witter, Psychologist. Michael Sheldon, Doctor. Marvie Packer, Ecologist. Ronald Paddock, Construction. Stanley Rittmiller, Culinary. Annie Rogers, Pokémon Trainer. Samson Rickwall, Economist. Cathy Dargan, Architect. Andrew Westinghouse, Surgeon."

"Yup, that's all of them."

I heard Louis shuffled some papers at the other end of the phone. "Now what do you want next?"

"This is more directed at the people. Set up a petition to remove every senator and representative currently holding office. Also, set up a petition to remove the Governor from office. If this Island is going to claim independence from Unova, these people shall not control the new national government. As for the Supreme Court justices, they also must be removed from office. They wouldn't be so useful under a new system and constitution."

"Why would the people do that?"

"Because of their deep ties to Unova. Heck, a quarter of these politicians were born in Unova. You want fresh young people running the first few years of this country, not old folks."

"This is a lot harder than gathering people together. I'll put a petition together but this demand might not go through."

I thought for a moment. "Get this demand through and I'll start letting some hostages go, I'll even announce it to them myself."

"Will you turn yourself in after this is over?"

I frowned. "Louis, arrest me and you'll unleash a shit-can of worms on this Island. Throw me in jail and the whole Island will revolt. Not only that, you also have to deal with hostile pokémon who view me as their only hope in a new life. The Dixierats may be docile, but the Pokémon Resistance Army is not. If your government decides to declare war on these pokémon, they will unleash a genocide so vile this Island will be forever known as the rock expressing all the evil in this world. Besides, once this is over, you have no right to hold me accountable for any crime that had happened before Faradian independence because the jurisdiction doesn't exist anymore. New nation, new laws. This problem will become Unova's problem, not yours. In fact, my freedom is the only reason why you are not dealing with a hostile takeover. This is a peaceful takeover, and the only casualties happening are the chus who serve _me._ " I raised my voice. "Fuck, I was just reunited with a long lost son and he passed away hours before I even got back to Faraday Island! Do you have any idea what kind of bullshit I was going through before this?!"

Louis said nothing, I looked up and saw the Smugleaf, Wotter, Woody, the camera crews, and several Dixierats staring at me. Luckily they didn't have the cameras pointed at me, but I think the people listening in on the negotiations heard enough. I hanged up on Louis and sighed, "I don't want to sit in this standoff any longer. Get the cameras pointed at the House Speaker's podium, I better make an announcement."

A Dixierat grabbed an electric lantern and sat it on the House Speaker's podium, cameras all shift attention away from key people and focus on the podium. I crawled through the House Floor and made my way around the house podium and climbed up on its surface. I looked out over the darkness, seeing all the faces of half-sleeping senators and representatives. It's only seven in the evening, there were plenty of people still awake.

I made out a thumb sticking up in the air from the main camera guy, and I spoke. "My name is Tesla Westinghouse, the Master of Electricity."

I used my electricity and flicked on every unpowered bulb in the ceiling. The House Chamber lit up. The General Assembly were stirred awake. The Governor even sat up, squinting from the bright light of the conventional lighting. The Supreme Court justices stirred awake, their tired eyes turning to me. Once I was sure I had the Faradian Government's attention. I continued. "I just turned a 108 years old a few days ago, and I am in no mood of celebrating. In fact I never was in the mood of celebrating my birthdays." I took a deep breath. "I came from a time when the computer age was just getting started. Back then, the human population was much smaller, the forest were much bigger, and contact between man and pokémon were kept at a minimum. My ancestors back in Viridian Forest never had much contact with humans. It was an isolated world, a lost world. I was born and raised in a family of seven. I was the first-born, I had a loving mother and caring father. I used to live without worry, without a care, no concern for my long-term future. Nothing like we're all experiencing now."

I took off my eye-goggles and tossed it onto the podium, I sensed the atmosphere in the House Chamber change. "This is what I looked like when I first arrived at your Island a hundred years ago. I was poached by a criminal organization. They pulled me from my mother's arms, stuck me into a cage and shipped me from one pokémon lab into another. I always had a bad impression of humanity from an early age. The first time I ever encountered a human being, he had a double-barreled shotgun aimed straight at me. Stupid hicks they are. I watched them killed one of my uncles, blew him apart with a slug round. That's not something a young pichu should experience. Ironic that I lost my family a few weeks after I evolved into a pikachu.

"I grew mean-spirited, irritated, hostile to anyone who tries to interact with me. Don't get me wrong, those handlers were nice people. But for me, it was over. I was done. I would never see my mama again, if only she saw what kind of creature her Sparky would become.

I noticed Andy walking up and handing me a glass of water. I took it and sipped it, then continued, "When I first arrived in Faraday Island, I was brought to the lab at Faraday City. A young Irvin Westinghouse caught my eye. Despite warnings from the staff, he tried to befriend me. I flashed my teeth at him, hissed, and he hissed back." I smiled. "He knew how to deal with me from the first hour we've met. I let him take me into his arms and we formed a bond. Mind you that I had never been in a poké ball, I'm still technically a wild pokémon. It wasn't an ownership, it was a contract. He would be my trainer, and in turn I would serve him till life.

"At first he taught me how to battle, like every beginner trainer would do. Oh boy was I mad when he waved that copper pipe in front of my face, asking me to shock it. Which I did, and in turn I blew apart his arm. His mother threw me out the window, cut me up pretty bad, then took her son to the hospital while leaving me bleeding in the back yard. It took hours before they would come back. I haven't moved since being thrown out the window, so he found me, patched me up, and was soon got caught by his mother and was given an ultimatum.

"Even from back then, I never liked him. Because he was a dumbass, always had been when he was a kid and even worse when he became an adult. But Irvin, even though he was an asshole, was very caring. Before that mishap, we bumped into this little nerd while strolling through the park. The kid was probably eight at the time, his name was Matthew Kissinger. We went over to his house and Irvin talked with him for a while. And just when we were about to leave, I ran ahead and plowed my head into the fucking wall. Around that time, my eyes were going bad. Matthew came up with a solution, he took a spare spectacles broke off the lenses, and stuck them inside some welding goggles made during that time. He stuck it on my head and the world just got a whole lot clearer, I didn't even notice how bad my vision was getting, it also served as a reminder that I was getting old.

"While he was putting the goggles together, Irvin noticed the Tesla coil sitting on his shelf. Matt was working on it for a school project at the time, and after a short discussion he asked him if he ever named me. We tossed a few names around and we stuck with the name Tesla, named after the guy who harnessed electricity for consumer use." I reached down and put my eye-goggles back on. "Without these eye-goggles, I would've been so blind I wouldn't be able to battle. Without them, I would have severe eye damage from the glass window. When Irvin's mom said he would kick him out if he won't get rid of me, he packed his bags and left. And then mom disowned him.

"That man cared about me so much that I didn't realized how much I really loved him. Our pokémon team grew as we toured around the regions of the world, eventually winning the tournaments that make him become a Pokémon Master. Honestly, pokémon battling didn't made him a Pokémon Master. It was what went on behind the scenes. I know, because I was the one who executed his plans. The . . . friends I had throughout the 70 years I spent with Irvin . . . we were close. For those who were growing up during our hayday, you remember the battles on TV right? How my friends battle the challengers at the Faraday City Gym. How I battled them at the Faraday City Gym. You ever wondered how I managed to tolerate so much pain? Because the drama I experienced long ago made any other pain null.

"I honestly hated the job, hated battling, amusing you people. It didn't feel right to me. In fact, I actually kidnapped my pokémon friends when they were eggs. Take them away from their families just to bring them back to this Island to raise them. That was Irivn's decision, not mine. They all knew what happened, but they never gave much thought about it. Why would they, since they never got the chance to experience the love and affection of their birth families. So for almost every pokémon battle I would have in that gym for your amusement, I would get intoxicated. Not shit-faced, but drunk enough to where I could hardly stand. If you ever wondered why I was wobbling on my feet on occasion. Well, there you go.

I leaned over the mike and said, "You people didn't get it. Pokémon battling may be thrilling but it's a harsh business. I suffered broken bones and horrid injuries just to keep you guys entertained. I tried to get my point across by making sure the pokémon who challenge me wouldn't walk away from our battles, some don't even walk again. I incapacitated every pokémon who dare comes into that gym to face me, not a single one of them is alive today." I pointed my finger at General Crowley. "You, Crowley, faced against Irvin's scrafty, Nobark. Remembered when Nobark head-butted the ground and knocked himself out? How you won because of that? It may be hilarious, and even Nobark thought it was hiliarous, but reality is he was mentally ill. He suffers from dissociative personality disorder. He was a curious case. For every emotion in existence, there was a personality for it. When Irvin died, he lost all the good ones and went insane. More on Nobark later."

I turned back toward the camera. "So how did I learn how to talk your language? Irvin taught me how to speak, he even taught me how to read and write. What really made him a Pokémon Master is that he _educated_ his pokémon, and not just train them. I learned basic math, science, social studies, the usual works. And then I advanced on more complex subjects. I learned your history, world history, even pokémon history. I grew hungry for knowledge, reading books from cover to cover. It didn't take me long to realize that the more stuff I knew, the more insignificant I began to feel. Eventually I got to a point where I didn't need my trainer anymore. I knew everything there was to know.

"After completing my education at the age of 35, I went on to live the rest of my days at the Irvin's father's farm. I've seen pokémon come and go. We had a lot of fun together. Irvin eventually became close friends with Matthew. Both had wives and kids. Honestly, the only people I ever liked the most in the world is Matt. He's more of a subtle character, he lets a lot of shit roll over him. Irvin was just loaded with drama, I always hated him for that. Matt acted as a buffer, even in some cases a break from all the stress I have to deal with from him and his pokémon. I was nice to him and his wife, but not their only son. Oddly enough that I watched their children and their children's children be born and raised. I never had much of a relationship with Irvin's son and daughter because they always left me alone, but Matt's only son I had a nerve with. Emmett Kissinger tried to pet me once, and I flashed my teeth and hissed at him. Oh boy was he terrified, he ran out of the house because of that. He told on me; that little shit. Matt just shrugged it off and Irvin didn't do anything, we didn't have any problems between us until decades later.

I took another sip of water and said, "I suffered from post-tramatic stress disorder, depression. I had suicidal thoughts, even attempted suicide. I just wanted to end it all, cause everytime I were to look into the mirror, I can watch myself get older from every passing minute. My friends were dying and we stopped poaching eggs long ago, Irvin and I were just taking care of the aging pokémon we had left throughout our later years. Irvin's grandson took sympathy for me when he was growing up. Like Emmett, he wanted to befriend me, but unlike Emmett, he knew what buttons to press. While Matthew was passive and subtle, Andy was active and subtle. Again, he was an asshole like his father and grandfather but nothing anybody can do about that. I saved his life once, he had a bad head injury after falling off of his bike. I did CPR because I knew shit, saved his life. The injury fucked up his decision-making process, but didn't stop him from becoming a doctor. We became close after he pulled me out of a situation where some idiot pokémon of ours decided to put nair in the shampoo, and next thing I knew my fur was on the floor of the tub and I was being dressed in his father's old baby clothes by Matt's wife.

A few people in the House Chamber chuckled.

"I know, right? Matt was just standing there not sure what to do and Irvin is standing there taking pictures. No help there, thankfully Andy stepped in and bailed me out. Not sure if we're even. I saved his life but he saved me from embarrassment. But fuck it, I'm getting too old for this shit anyway."

I could hear Mark laughing in the background. I even smiled, "I had a lot of good times with Irvin's pokémon, and we were all close. Not exactly the kind of big happy family I hoped for, but we were close. I put them in the incubators when they were eggs, many decades later I buried them myself. Buried them on the farm, in a small little plot of land devoted to serve a cemetery. Most of Irvin's pokémon are buried there now. Poor things. Many committed suicide and went insane after Irvin's death. We had a community at that farm. The big thing about Irvin is that he never treats his pokémon as pokémon, he treats them as people. He gave them people food and people beds, no leashes, ropes, nothing. He was their master and I am the largest fish in the school. While he makes the rules, I enforce them. At the time, I was too angry and stubborn over my lost I failed to realize the damage I was causing to them. On rare occasion I would beat them for stupid decisions. But they knew, they knew what I went through. I wish I could apologize to them and take it all back.

"After Irvin's heart attack and death, we all fell apart. His children and grandchildren moved on, his pokémon didn't. Matt's son grew up to become a police officer, even became the key person in tracking me down in the early days of my outlaw years. He later had a son, Mark Kissinger, who was the most badass sniper on this Island. In fact, when we first met, he shot me in the arm with a .22 rifle, then his dad shot me in the ass with a 9mm, and then Mark found and proceed to strangle me near to death. So that goes without saying: Fuck the police!"

"It was like squeezing a bag of lard!" Mark called out from the background, I was sure the camera's microphones were sensitive enough to pick it up.

I stood there with a face for a few seconds. "See, what do I tell you? I can personally say Mark Kissinger is the most badass Faradian on the Island. No one can ever rival his patriotism for his country. Not even Irvin."

I finished my water and continued, "Anyway, after that pardon from Governor Norman here. I went to Unova to see an old friend. Andy had been busy, I went to go see him and found him swarming with these mice pokémon he personally calls the Dixierats, named after the town nearby. Even though mice aren't rats, but heck, fuck logic.

"Yes, the very same Dixierats who has infested your Island."

The House Chambers were filled with whispers for a few seconds, and then I continued, "You know what's the kicker? You can take any of these chus, anyone of them, and analyze their blood. If you go up the family tree, you'll discover that the family line will bottle-neck at a certain point. In fact, all of these chus can trace their descendants . . . to me."

That stirred quite a commotion among the House Chamber. I said, "You helped create them. There's a breeding lab at Faraday where I go to since my late thirties. Scientists wanted to breed another pikachu with my powerful electrical abilities. I have a mutation that, well, makes me bend electrical forces to my will. In fact I'm feeding power to those lights wirelessly via microwave radiation. So they paired me up to a beautiful flower, Polly. She was my one and only mate, like your wives. We both had a lot of children, some of which went on to create the Dixierats. Sadly, due to the contract, I never saw a single son or daughter. And when the contract expired, they took Polly away from me. It was devastating for me, it took me months to recover. By discovering the Dixierats, I didn't get that sense of family I was so hoping. It reopened old wounds, and eventually I left.

"I couldn't remember what I did the next few weeks. My liver failed, that's all I know. Next thing I know I heard of what Nobark had become. He has become a terrorist, a villain, because his mental illness. You heard about what was happening at Soho, right? That's because Nobark finally snapped and I had to contain the damage. I was very close with Nobark, more close to him and to any of Irvin's pokémon. When I first saw him after twenty years, he was gravely ill. He has Parkinson's, arthritis, the URP was after him. He was dying, and somehow that monster within him caused an entire town to go into Marshall law and tried to control its people. Nobark planned on creating the Pokémon Resistance Army, determined to give pokémon equal status as to that of humans. It's like Team Plasma, but pokémon, and violence. The pokémon who served him gave him all their lives and loyalty, and he let them down. You've got to realize these pokémon were abused, abandoned, unloved. I know their pain because I've been through it, but I never went down the paths they had because I knew what it was like to have a loving family. Nobark tried to recreate it, he failed. He asked me if I could take them off his hands, I said yes. But before we could do anything, his mental illness consumed him and he went on a murderous rampage."

"It was bad, most of the PRA didn't even know what they were doing when they were attacking Soho. They were just following orders. They didn't realize what had happened until I asked them to stand down. And then when the police cornered Nobark, we said our goodbyes. And then I killed him."

Silence.

"Irvin put down some pokémon during our time, there were a handful of times were he was force to make that decision. I persuaded him not to shoot Nobark when he realized how bad the scrafty's condition was. I thought I could save him, treat his condition, but he couldn't be save. Had I let Irvin shoot Nobark, a lot of lives would be spared."

More silence.

"I know, it's hard for me to keep up with all this. In fact, I felt finished myself. I took the fall for him, let the URP round me up. I was done, I didn't want to fight anymore. I was old, tired, I wanted to call it quits. And then I heard that the URP was also tracking Andy down while all of this was happening. Next thing I know, a riot stirred up in Soho and I barely managed to escape. I tracked the Dixierats down onto a ship, joined with them, and you know what happened next when they landed at Faraday City."

I finished my glass of water and took a deep breath. "Look, I don't want to be here. I was dragged into this mess by the Dixierats. I didn't even know this was happening until a few days ago . . . All I ask is for you to let me live my life without drama or bullshit. It's a shame it has to come to this, I wouldn't be taking responsibility for the Dixierats if it wasn't for my fucking job with Irvin. If you want me to stay with you, then you gotta let me live my own life on my own terms. Here's all these mice pokémon you funded with your own tax money to create. They are looking for a home, feel free to adopt a chu if you care so much." I turned toward the legislature. "General Assembly, this is for you. If you want your island to claim independence, then do the people a favor and not be part of the new government. Your connections to Unova is too great, and some of you weren't even born in Faraday Island. Doesn't mean that they don't trust you, but they can't take that risk of you potentially sabotaging the revolution." I pointed toward where the lobby was. "The door's right there. If you wanna leave, then go right ahead. But under one condition. You resign from office, in writing, and deliver it to your superior. Keep the process formal. Once you've resigned, then I have no reason to hold you here.

"This also goes to you, Governor. And the Supreme Court, the military generals, the advisors. Resign your posts, you're free to leave. Stay, and the people you _serve_ will decide what to do with you. Remember, General Assembly, that you have the power to impeach the Supreme Court members and the Governor. Again, keep the process formal. I'll leave that decision up to you. Note that it isn't the Governor's fault that all this shit happened on his watch. Nobody ever anticipated a pokémon takeover, which had torn your philosophy of preparedness apart. When morning comes, I'll let you get back to work. But you're not going to leave the Capital Building until the negotiations are complete, and the petition to decide whether to keep you or repeal you from office.

One representative raised his hand, he stood up and asked, "What gives you the right to hold us?!"

I said, "You put my likeness on your flag from popular vote, named me your mascot for your Island. I have a heavy influence on this island for years, and not only do your people worship me I have not one but two pokémon armies keeping you in place. I personally knocked out power throughout Electro to delay the response time long enough for me to walk right in here and bar the doors. If I want, I can get all the Dixierats here to charge up and unleash a powerful electromagnetic pulse to send your nation back into an age before electricity. If that doesn't work, then they can rip out all the wiring manually. You've been under my mercy since I first appeared on TV, and now I'm using that influence to make that known.

"Irvin may be gone, but Matthew Kissinger is still around. He's an old man now, a few years away from 90. He's probably sitting on his couch right now, wondering what I'm really doing. Emmett Kissinger is currently the Chief of Police in Faraday City, thanks to me. He's probably sitting in his office, right now, under the glow of an electric light, wondering to himself if he could've done anything different with me during his youthful years. He can relax, cause his son is making those decisions for him. Recently Mark found Polly and brought her back to me. I don't know how he did it, and how many strings he pulled to make it happen. But he did it. I thought she would be lost forever. I have never been so happy in a long time when I saw her again, after all these years."

"He had a boner!" Mark screamed.

The whole House Chamber broke into laughter. I squeezed my eyes shut and froze. I have to admit, that was really funny. Not something anyone should say within a House legislature, but I bet he was waiting for years to use that line. I grabbed my ears, trying not to laugh myself. "Well he's not wrong."

Everybody laughed harder.

I breathed. "Well, his mom can sure move."

The whole crowd moaned, a few even started clapping. I looked up and saw Mark's face. He was giving me the middle finger, trying not to laugh. I let everyone had their fun for a few minutes, when the applause died down I said, "Again, fuck the police!"

A brief moment of laughter.

"Okay, I'm done for tonight. Goodnight."

The ceiling lights clicked off, returning the entire House Chamber returned to darkness.

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**


	37. Chapter 37

_Chapter 37_

So sometime during the middle of the night, the PRA tried to start shit by messing around with a flare gun. The dumbshit in question fired the flare gun into the air, causing a stir for a few minutes. Louis waked me on the satellite phone, told me what had happening. I told him I would handle it. After spending five minutes in the dark trying to track the bastard down, I grabbed the conscript and threw his furry ass off the roof. He landed ass first on the concrete and broke his hip and leg. I watched the paramedics take him away, then I returned back to the House Chamber and went back to sleep.

When a new dawn broke, I rang up Louis on the satellite phone. It took a few rings before he finally answered. "Tesla."

I said, "How's morning for you?"

"Fine, fine. How about you?"

"Good, no more disturbances."

"You have any more demands?"

I said, "The old farmhouse had collapsed from age, I need someone to file the necessary paperwork to make a claim. Is the Homestead Act still in effect?"

"It is."

"Scrounge up 500,000 pokédollars and deposit it all in Irvin Westinghouse's old bank account. While you're at it, I'll start releasing some people. Assuming anyone wants to leave at all."

"Okay, I'll get the paperwork started."

"Keep me posted."

 **. . .**

When the captive Faradian government began session, a few senators and representative had turned in resignation letters. I read them myself, making sure the signature and dates were present. I handed them to their speakers and let the assembly people go. The scene of them walking out of the Capital Building created a lot of attention, people were beginning to think the standoff was ending.

Mark brought in a notebook laptop for me to use. Being computer savvy I felt right at home. My familiarity ended when Mark showed me Reddit, a so-called front page of the internet website. I found my name on a link to an FNN news article, receiving 6,000 upvotes in two days. I clicked on the comments section and got a glimpse into people's minds. Among the 1,034 comments, most were supportive of me. The deeper I went through the comments, the more confused I became. Users were drifting off-topic on other things, some mentioned sex jokes and pornography. Many users posted links to so-called "reaction GIFs" that made no sense to me whatsoever. I frowned, once the important discussion was complete people began posting random shit for attention. I was just about to shut the computer down when Mark showed me the IAMA page, a subreddit where any important person can ask questions to their adoring fans. He had me made an account. I kept my username simple, labeling it as "Tesla_Westinghouse", then I created my first Reddit post.

 _"Hi, my name is Tesla Westinghouse. Former starter pokémon of the late Pokémon Master, Irvin Westinghouse. Ask me anything."_

I uploaded the post and set it aside for the time being. I then dismissed Mark and stared at the post for a few minutes before the satellite phone rang. "Hello?"

"Westinghouse," said Louis. "The money has been deposited in your bank account."

I went onto the computer and opened up Irvin's old Bank of Faraday account. Sure enough, a recent deposit of 500,000 pokédollars is pending in the checking account. "Alright," I said. "That's another step done. How's the petition going?"

"The petition has been set up and we're receiving signatures from all over the Island. You sure have a lot of popularity over this."

I said, "I've recently released some assembly men and women, have they been escorted back to their families?"

"They're back home, relieved that their ordeal is over."

"Okay."

Louis said, "What is your next demand?"

"The next one wouldn't be yours to carry out, I'll get back to you soon."

I killed the connection and turned my attention to Governor Norman. Earlier he had been moved to a secured room in the center of the Capital Building, heavily guarded by Dixierat raichus. It's about time I speak with him in person.

I said to Smugleaf. "Hold the fort, I'll be right back."

"Kay, Tesla."

I left the House Chamber and walked to the lobby. I remembered that Governor Norman's makeshift office was on the 2nd floor of the Capital Building situated down the hall from the Senate Chamber. The office is normally used by the Vice-Governor, since he's the President of the Senate. For now, Norman his borrowing his number two guy's office so he could carry out his duties. As I walked into the lobby, I caught Ray talking to the committee members, running his mouth, telling them all sorts of useless information. I whistled for him and caught his attention. I waved him over, Ray excused himself and rushed up to me in a hurry. "Up to something, Grandpa?"

"Let's find Norman again, and this time don't break down the fucking door."

"Yes, sir!"

I jumped on his back and Ray took off. We went up the main stair gallery up to the second floor, then made our way down the hallway. The second floor was swamped with both PRA and Dixierat looters. Each room we passed was wide open and gutted. Papers litter the floor, furniture and windows smashed. The Dixierats searched for food, while the more merciless PRA searched for anything of value. Strangely both factions were getting along despite differences in interests and values. I watched them run from room to room, chasing down goodies and plunder. When the PRA conscripts saw us, they dropped what they're doing and stood in attention. The Dixierats less formally started following us, eventually massing a dozen chus. I heard one grass monkey comment as we approached Norman's room. _"This isn't an army, this is a hive."_

Big burly raichus wearing Kevlar vests stood guard by his door. They stepped aside as Ray and I stepped into the office.

There he was, the Governor, wearing nothing more than an undershirt and pants as he runs the crippled Island in a commandeered office, using nothing more than a burrowed laptop, a CB radio, and a satellite phone. He was just finishing typing something up when I approached.

"So why pardon me, after all that shit for twenty years?"

Governor Norman sit back and stared at the wall for a moment. "No other pokémon like you has moved so many people, I've overestimated you on what were your intentions. You made a mockery to the FIPD and crushed many trainers and pokémon who come your way. From what I was told, Irvin was well associated with then-Governor Stanley back in your time. I didn't grow up watching you on the TV, but I heard plenty of talk about you. People mostly adore you for your looks."

"The shit I can get away with, if only they knew."

Norman said, "After I received Mark's plea to get a pardon for you, I went to the archives and dug up Stanley's journals. I found a tape about a conversation between him and your trainer."

"What is it about?"

"Mostly explaining why you never showed up to his party. Irvin regretted dragging you into the spotlight, you were trying to get away."

"Had been for twenty years. Living as a hermit underneath Faraday City's shadow taught me one thing, and that's Irvin's legacy will forever haunt me. I just found out that just before his death, he made an audio tape explaining a lot of things. And then he terminated our contract. Seventy years of my life went down into his grave, another twenty years spent trying to avoid what was left. No matter what happens now, I can't get those years back."

Norman said, "What do you want to see me for anyway?"

I said, "Pardon the co-conspirators who brought the Dixierats to the Island, mainly Irvin's grandson, Andrew Westinghouse, and his best-friend's grandson, Mark Kissinger. They may be assholes, but they're close friends."

"And what about you, what's your take in the invasion?"

"I simply brought those mice pokémon into existence, I was not responsible for bringing them to the Island. However, I did instructed the Pokémon Resistance Army to come here."

"I heard about what happened at Soho, you brought their problem to our homeland."

I frowned. "First, that was Nobark's problem, and he's out of the equation. And second, I was never a citizen of this damn Island. I am stateless, I merely reside here. Amazing that little detail is overlooked in a country paranoid about immigrants. Rather than taking their jobs, the people gave me their identity. Do you have any idea how infuriated I was when the General Assembly put my fucking face on the national flag?"

"Is that why you took down the banners off the Executive Mansion and City Hall?"

"One of the reasons, the other is to show I own your country now. I don't have to fight my way over here, I simply walked in and conquered your capital. All because my dead trainer put me into this position." I took a deep breath. "So why did you pardon me? In fact, why did you have me, an aging pikachu, battle Cabot for it?"

"My advisors pushed the idea, saying they want to see if you still have what it takes. I would've pardon you even if you had lost."

"So it was your advisor's decision? All you know is a celebrity pikachu killing and incapacitating anyone who tries to capture it. I have no sympathy for those trainers and their pokémon who risked their lives trying to capture me. They were trying to take my freedom, I was defending myself, and I wasn't taking any chances. So, for the third and final time, why?"

Norman reached out and closed his laptop. "If I ordered for you capture _or_ assassination, I would be forever known as the Governor who put down this Islands crown jewel. Your powers and fierce determination symbolizes the Island's technological and economic strength. You've been around for countless generations, if anything were to happen to you this Island would suffer an irreversible economic recession."

"I don't give a damn about your Island, I brought here by force and I had no private life. All I care right now is family. Irvin made his plan so I could bring your nation to its knees, allowing the Dixierats a life I used to lead a long time ago. So for fuck sake, pardon my friends. I'll be taking the fall for this."

"You sound so willing to wreck your own reputation."

I exploded, "Because it's not mine!"

A surge shot through the dead electrical lines within the Capital Building, causing the ceiling lights to flash and burn out. Ray jumped, nearly knocking me off. I heard several Dixierats and PRA conscripts rushing to the door, expecting a firefight. Instead they saw me just standing there in infuriation. "All I did for Irvin was do his taxes, his chores, battle, and most of all, sit on his shoulder for the camera! Do you know how long it took him to realize his mistake?! We wouldn't even be here if I wasn't even poached!"

I looked behind me and saw the troops standing at the door, terrified and uncertain. I turned back to Norman and pointed at them. "They don't even know who I am, I don't even know who I really am! I don't have a home to go back to, and I simply cannot walk away from this! I didn't march into your Executive Mansion just to kidnap you, I came just to beg for help!"

I breathed for a moment, trying my best to cool down. "Please," I said. "I can't take this anymore, I'm finished."

I climbed off of Ray and leaned a hand against the door frame. I stood there for a moment, trying to clear my head. Then I asked, "Where's your Vice-Governor by the way, isn't this his office?"

Norman said, "Vice-Governor Sherman has resigned, I received his letter of resignation days ago. Since independence is near, I didn't bother replacing him."

I turned around and said, "Pardon my friends, and I'll let you go. I'll leave you to it."

I turned back toward the doorway and left.

 **. . .**

The next few hours were interesting. Louis called, saying the petition I requested was almost finished. He also added that the polls were opened, overcrowded with people eager to vote. The initial tally showed that a majority of people were eager to vote out their General Assembly. I was impressed, I didn't expect things to be this easy.

Governor Norman came down to the House Chamber, dressed back in his business suit. He had something to say to the people. I asked the FNN crews to train their cameras on him, I then got on the phone with Louis to notify him of the Governor.

"I have an important announcement to make," he said, "in regards with our situation with Unova."

He paused, letting that thought sink in. "The Unovan parliament has voted whether or not to declare independence for Faraday Island. The vote was in our favor, but barely. The bill has been passed on to the council to be voted upon."

He paused for a second time, then said, "Our request for independence has been approved."

The whole House Chamber erupted in applause. I stood there unamused, Andy and Mark however were ecstatic. They even hugged each over for the spur of the moment.

When the applause died down, Norman continued, "In response to the declaration, I have to announce that we're not going to found not just one nation, but two. One for humanity, and the other for pokémon. Our longtime legendary pikachu, Tesla Westinghouse, has exposed atrocities committed by our species against pokémon. His close associates who are responsible for the mice pokémon infestation are hereby pardoned for their actions, and under Executive Order, Tesla Westinghouse is hereby placed under diplomatic immunity until a new constitution for our new nations is approved.

"Since we are founding a new nation, I hereby introducing a bill to repeal our current provincial constitution, and with it, the creation of a committee to draft the new constitution. Also in the bill, anyone who has hold office or has any close ties with Unova will be banned from participating in the committee and holding any jobs with our new government. Any citizen of Faraday Island born before the day of independence will maintain their dual citizenship of Unova and Faraday Island. Note that if this bill fails to pass, our people will still impeach us and the march toward a new government will continue. We are backed against the wall here and we need to make a decision."

Both speakers of the House of Represesenatives and the House of the Senate stood up, they had a message prepared for Norman. "In that case, we'll vote for the intensity of ayes and nays."

The Senate Speaker announced, "In vote for the repeal of our constitution and the impeachment of our associated offices, all in favor?"

"Aye!" the Senator roared.

"All opposed?"

Silence.

"The Senate has approved of the bill."

The Representatives Speaker then chimed, "In vote for our repeal of our provincial institution and our resignations, all in favor?"

"Aye!" the House of Representatives roared, this time louder than the Senate."

"All opposed?"

Silence.

"The House of Representatives has approved of the bill, now awaiting your final approval Governor."

"Approved, the measure will be effective my midnight."

The whole House broke into applause and cheering. I stood there, dumbstruck. No resistance, no opposition. Everyone knows this government was fucked. Rather than stand to face the tide, they opened the flood gates. I dialed the negotiator's number. "Yes, Tesla?"

"Louis, we're standing down. The men and women in the House Chamber are free to go. Come meet me in the lobby, it's about time we have a chat in person."

 **. . .**

Buses were brought in to take the resigning General Assembly men and women home. The anarchy flag over the Capital Building was lowered and that fucking purple flag was raised again. I stood at the top of the Capital Building's stairs and watched as Supreme Commander McNamara board one of the buses. From what I recalled, someone got promoted to take his place, even take part in the committee for the new constitution. Didn't know who it really was, all I know he was under the age of thirty and his position is only temporary.

Before McNamara left, Mark rushed up to him, saluted. Words were exchanged, then the resigning Commander got on the bus minutes before it took him away.

"What did you two say?" I asked Mark as he climbed up the stairs.

"Just thanking him for those years of service I spent with him." He said.

"That's all?"

Mark nodded. "That's all."

I glanced down the steps and saw an FIPD officer coming up the Capital Building stairs. He had grey hair, wearing a pair of thin-rimmed glasses and an FIPD jacket. I have no doubt in my mind this was Richard Louis, the guy pretty much sounded like his age.

"You haven't changed much since I first saw you on TV," said Louis as he approached. "You look more weathered than old."

"And more sober," I said. "I hadn't had a drink ever since Unova."

Louis smiled, "Is that your nature?"

"Being a pest is my nature, it's what I was raised to do."

"Hmm, I do remember several cases back during the national blackout of several stores being gutted and raided. We found several strands of pokémon hair and saliva samples all over the place. The most prevalent is yellow strands of hair, usually around the cash registers."

I said nothing.

"I was reviewing those cases to meet the cold case review requirements. I asked to have the hair samples analyzed for DNA, it just so happened to match you."

I said nothing.

"Well?"

I said, "Even if the evidence is pointing to me, I'm admitting nothing. Confessions alone never stand in court."

Mark said, "Says the pikachu who hadn't had sex in 40 years."

"You prick, nobody needs to know about my sex life!"

"Tell that to all the Dixierats who are busy fucking in public."

I glared at him for a moment, then turned back to Louis. "Can you escort me and my associates back to Faraday City? I got an old friend to see."

 **. . .**

We packed everybody into a bus and drove back to Faraday City. With the farm caved in, I was looking forward into finding a place to sleep tonight. Mark and Matt's house are potential candidates, and there was the old Faraday City Gym, which was being turned into a refugee center. Regardless of where I go, I want to keep a huge buffer between me and the Dixierats. Mice pokémon are pests, even to their own. I hoped that they would stay away from me for the rest of the week, I need a break from their bullshit.

The bus wasn't exactly comfortable and it was nauseating, yet a few people managed to nap. I noticed Smugleaf and Wotter holding each other as they slept. Woody just leaned back and napped, his mouth gaping open. Mark kept an eye out through the windows, as if he was expecting an ambush. Swoobat hanged from the ceiling handle bars, swaying back and forth. I wasn't sure how he was able to sleep through the rocking, he must be really tired from all that flying. Ray up near the front with Bruiser, chattering non-stop. As always, I sat by Andy as he scratched my back. I didn't remember most of the ride, all I remembered was the bus stopping and Andy carrying me back to Matt's house.

"Where's your truck?" Andy asked Mark as we approached the house.

"Henry has it," he said. "He's borrowing it for a while, saying about investigating some anomalies. He's going to stop by tomorrow to pick me up once he finished doing tasks for our superior officer."

When we walked inside, we found Polly, Wheels, and Volta sleeping on the couches. The raichus guarding the place were in the kitchen, digging inside the fridge for goodies. Andy sat me down by Polly and I brushed up beside her. She stirred, opened her eyes, then hugged me with glee. _"Tesla!"_

 _"Nice to see you, Polly,"_ I said.

Volta stirred and climbed up on top of me, desperately trying to lick my cheek. "Tes, Tes, Tes, Tes!"

I reached out and scratched her back, she cooed and laid down beside me. I proceed to scratch her belly, she giggles and tried to swat my hand away. "I guess I got your sweet spot."

"Dad," said Wheels, stirring from sleep. "You're back!"

"You saw me on TV?"

"We all did, we had trouble sleeping last night. We weren't sure if you were coming back."

"I'm back, am I? What's wrong?"

Wheels pressed his head against my side. "I didn't get to say goodbye."

I scratched his back. "Don't worry, I'm here for you."

Andy walked over to the kitchen and open the fridge. "Oh boy, that stinks."

He came out with the bundle of bedsheets holding the body of my other son. I frowned when I noticed I saw the tail sticking out. Polly didn't pay much attention, but Wheels was curious.

Ray asked, "Where you're going?"

Andy said, "I'm going to get this necropsy done, and then we're going to bury him."

Wheels crawled up to the edge of the couch to ask who was in the bundle, but Andy was already out the door. We crawled up to the window and watched as Andy took the body to a cab outside, I can't imagine how the driver would react to the smell from the corpse. When the cab drove away, Wheels slid back into the couch. "That was my brother, wasn't it."

I nodded. "Yes, it was."

Polly sat up and said, _"I had children who died stored in refrigerators before they were dissected. They usually died from a bad reaction to a drug or chemical or from an accident, it was a weird feeling to see the hides after the necropsy. From what I heard they stuffed them and donated them to somewhere."_

"Colleges, museums, or anyone collecting odd stuff. I've heard them all and I've seen them all. After the Dixierats kicked out the poachers back in Unova, they went through the remains of their dead. I expected mourning, but instead I saw playing with the hides and prepping several bodies to be roasted over a fire."

Ray said, "Some of them use the hides as blankets for warmth, or as rugs for their burrows."

I shrugged. "Waste not, want not."

I jumped down and stretched my legs. "Well, the day's still bright. We've performed one messed up deed by introducing a species to this rock, along with other misfits. So for that, I want to visit my old café and order a tall glass of chocolate mint mocha and ponder my existence while people gawk around me."

"That's your plan to celebrate?" Mark asked.

"No, that's for this afternoon. Tonight, we head to your house, order several pies of pizzas, and review what we just went through."

"How about movies?" Ray asked. "Or long YouTube videos?"

I said, "Why not, Ray? Why not?"

 **. . .**

Even though the entire city was under Marshall Law, Mark's position in the National Guard, including my public endorsement of him allowed him to buy several pizzas at the store around the original price. Under Marshall law, groceries cost ten times more than normal in an attempt to ration food supplies. Say one candy bar that normally costs around one pokédollar now costs ten dollars. Armed FIPD officers were posted at the entrances of the stores to force compliance. From what I've gathered, they also assisted with looters cleaning out stores during the day. But when night comes, it's the other way around. With a long way from 7PM, we had all the time in the world to grab all the luxury goods our hearts' desired.

Mark called in a HUMVEE to be delivered. Two HUMVEE's drove up minutes later. One of the driver's got out and had Mark filled out a compliance form or some policy contract. After that, the technician got into the second HUMVEE and drove away, leaving the other HUMVEE for Mark. We all piled into the HUMVEE, they were astonished with all the space they had available for them. Unlike the van, the HUMVEE neither had insulation nor air conditioner. Everything inside besides the seats was metal, and the radio was a throwback from the time of analogue. Just like the one in the truck. Ray sat up front while we all sat in the back. There was a benchseat bolted into the back, covered with seatbelts and straps. It wasn't exactly pleasant and we didn't feel comfortable. Bruiser offered to sit in the back, leaving the smaller pokémon to sit up front. Polly didn't mind sitting on the hard seats due to her background, but everyone else, especially Mark's pokémon had trouble getting comfortable.

Mark got behind the wheel and looked back at us. "You guys alright back there?"

I said, "Yes, we're fine. Take us to the café and drop us off, then do your thing."

"You sure you're going to be okay? No drama or a pokémon battle?"

I frowned, saying nothing.

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm sorry that I told everybody on the rock about your sex life even though I was the one who cared enough to bring Polly back into your life. But knowing you, the battle would be over before it even began. And you got Ray, who will amplify your power in case you get into a heated debate."

"Just drive, Mark."

Mark started up the engine and started off to the café shop. What I liked about it was that it was just a few blocks down, all Mark had to do was make a right and go straight down. The familiar old café shop was still there after fifty years of age, and it was open. As we got out, I said to Mark. "Do we have blankets for Smugleaf?"

"Yes."

"A heating blanket?"

"No."

"Get that, and also get a big bottle of ibuprofen for Wotter."

"Got it."

I called out to Wheels, "Son, do you still need aspirin?"

"It's not as bad as it used to be but my elbows still hurt."

"How about your mother?"

A pause. "She has some pain but not terrible."

"Does she have any allergies for over-the-counter pain killers?"

Another pause. "No, she doesn't."

I turned back to Mark. "Also get some aspirin, a lot of it."

"I'll get the biggest bottles I can find, you have anything else in mind you want me to get?"

"Yes, once you get everything and also your things drop everything off at your house and go back to the farm and retrieve all the stuff there. If you think it's too much for you, Ray and Bruiser can help you with that. But note that they're getting old too, you might wanna look forward into buying a lot of aspirin bottles."

"I might as well get a bag full of drugs, the legal kind of course."

Mark's emolga sat up front as his pikachu and cheering pokémon sit in the back. "You sure you don't wanna stay with Tesla, guys?" He asked.

Emolga shook her head. _"No."_

"Alright, just sit tight and let me drive. Have one Tesla, I'll try not to keep you waiting."

"I have all day."

Mark scooped me up and hugged me, then let me down and I jumped out of the HUMVEE. Ray shut the door, knocked twice, and Mark drove away. As we watched the HUMVEE grew smaller down the road, I turned to Wotter. _"I almost wish you have shot him, this prick likes to do good while infuriating anyone."_

Wotter said, _"I kind of like him. Even if Nobark had ordered me to execute him, Mark would have disarmed me the moment I opened his cell door. I wasn't going to challenge him."_

I shrugged. _"Well then, I suppose it doesn't matter now."_

We all walked inside the café. The whole place was almost empty save for a couple of people sitting alone, drinking their beverages or reading a book. We've all got a seat by the fireplace. It was lit, and it had been burning for some time. Ray laid back on the couch and stretched out his legs. Everyone else got a seat at the smaller sofas save for Smugleaf, who decided to sit down by the fireplace. I asked everyone if they wanted anything.

"Mint mocha," said Smugleaf.

"Water," said Bruiser. "I'm in no mood for anything sweet."

Woody said, _"Pumpkin cinnamon mocha."_

Ray said, "A big tall drink of double chocolate chip."

 _"Salted caramel mocha,"_ said Wotter.

I said, "How about you, Wheels?"

Wheels thought for a moment. "A cup of strawberry frappuccino."

"What about you, Polly? You want anything?"

Polly blinked with tired eyes. _"What?"_

 _"This café serves hot and cold beverages, you can even have it custom-made. You have a favorite flavor, Sweetheart?"_

Polly just stared at me. _"I can't think of anything, how about an apple-flavored drink?"_

 _"Warm or cold?"_

 _"Warm."_

 _"Okay, I'll be right back."_

I went over to the counter and ordered the drinks. The clerk knew me well, I had been a regular customer back in the day when his grandfather first opened the café. His employees made the drinks and I took them back to my friends and family. I walked up to Smugleaf and handed the serpent her drink. "Had the cold always been a problem?" I asked.

Smugleaf shook her head. "No, not ever since Alice. How do you handle the cold?"

"I had many strategies throughout the years. I used to sleep through it, now I just stay inside by the fire. This is usually how I spend most of the time in the winter. The cold is never forgiving."

Smugleaf sipped her mocha and sat there for a moment. "What am I going to do in Faraday Island, Tes? I don't even know where to start."

"You already have a job, part of Nobark's inner circle in the PRA. Well, my inner circle now. If you want to fine tune your leadership skills, you can start by reorganizing the PRA regiments coming into Faraday Island. If you know anyone who's competent enough to replace Tendon, perhaps we can look for a replacement."

Smugleaf said, "That's a start."

I left Smugleaf be and returned to Polly. She was sipping her mocha sheepishly, but she was getting used to it. _"Are you okay?"_ I asked.

 _"I'm not used to anything sweet. This drink is so rich that it makes my belly feel funny."_

 _"You feel nauseous?"_

 _"No, I don't feel sick or anything. It's just…"_ Polly thought for a few seconds. _"This is just a whole new world to me, it's so big."_

 _"How's your eyes?"_

 _"They feel weird when I look far away."_

 _"That's depth perception, its normal."_

I sat down beside Polly and she rested her head on my shoulder. Volta and Wheels crawled up, piling into a group hug. We sat there, sipping our drinks and chatting. It felt like an eternity.

 **TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	38. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

That's that. No dramatic ending or bullshit cliffhanger. Life for me had stabilized from there. From that point on, I was in control of my own destiny. It was time for me to stop chasing my tail, root myself and focus on rebuilding a family. I grew up in a world where I looked up to my elders for moral and emotional support, I never expected to be the elder myself. Especially at age one hundred and eight.

I honestly didn't remember much of our little party, I went to bed right after I got back to Mark's house. Crawled up into Emmett's King-sized bed and fell asleep. Everybody had their pizza and coke and all the junk food they could cram down their throats. The following morning I found Polly, Wheels, and Volta sleeping under the covers with me. Seeing all those chus made me wonder what I've missed during the changing times. Turns out I didn't missed much. They watched a couple of movies and a few dozen YouTube videos, then Mark shut everything down and called it a night. The boy himself was cooking breakfast for everyone downstairs. With the smell of food arousing everyone out of their sleep, I decided to get up and go downstairs for breakfast.

While we ate, we listened to the radio. The Faraday News Network on the TV had went down during the night, authorities suspected a cyberattack. We later found out that the Dixierats were attracted to the high-powered antennas of the main FNN news building and chewed out the wires. I vocally stated that I would not cover for them if they get caught, they'll learn what happens when they commit vandalism.

We soon heard back from Andy. He came back to Mark's house, rounded everybody up and explained that the elder Dixierat had died of renal failure. "He basically died from toxic shock," he said. "I couldn't find a single drop of urine in his bladder."

The body in question was already being processed, stripped of its hide and organs. I asked Andy if he could save the hide, I had plans on doing something with it.

Emmett soon came home, he looked tired and worn out. He didn't acknowledge us or the smell, he just slumped in the couch and sat back. We all sat there for a long time, staring at him, wondering if he had anything to say. After Mark finished washing the dishes, he came into the room and asked him how was work.

"I got promoted," he said. "The FIPD voted for a new Commissioner, I won the nomination and now people are at the polls for final approval."

"And?" Mark asked.

"And it is confirmed, now I'm responsible for the entire FIPD police, fire, and ambulance forces. I couldn't turn down the job, most of the qualified candidates were barred because of their association with Unova. Mostly for just being born in the mainland." Emmett chuckled. "I guess we won't be referring it as the mainland now."

Kissinger got up and stretched his legs. "I'm going to go upstairs, take a shower, and sleep off the rest of the day. I'm going to have to sell the house and move to Electron in the coming weeks. Mark, you're going to need to start finding a new place to live."

Mark said, "Tesla managed to get funding to rebuild the old Westinghouse Farm."

"That old place? Yeah, that place has a lot of history. Did it really fall apart?"

"It imploded," I said. "Electrical fire weakened the support beams, the fire was put out but the whole place just fell apart from age."

"That's what happens when you build out of wood."

Emmett reached out and rubbed my head. "Good to have you back, I suppose."

With that, he got up and walked upstairs and shut the bedroom door. I turned to Mark and said, "He'll warm up to me, eventually."

Mark said, "So what are we going to do now?"

"Rebuild."

 **. . .**

So if you're still wondering how in the world all those nanobots managed to restore my whole system and made me youthful, truth is they couldn't fixed everything. I woke up the next day feeling sore all over. My back ached and my joint were on fire. I couldn't get up out of bed. Andy took a look at me, turning me over, pressing down on my muscles. It soothed the pain but it hurts for me to move. So much to my family's dismay he took me to the Faraday City Pokémon Hospital where my aging doctor Rosenberg did his own analysis. At first he was happy to see me again, especially since he was also watching the news. He had been stuck in his office since the Dixierat invasion and had to work overtime. He went on about the excitement for treating patients under limited resources and several power outages for long five minutes. When he saw me fuming, he went back to Doctor Mode and said he's going to send me through a CT scanner to see what is wrong.

He was surprised when he took a look at the scan. None of the titanium pins, clamps, and bolts were visible. At first Dr. Rosenberg wondered if the CT scanner was broken, then he remembered about the nanobots software update. He didn't expect the nanobots to work _that_ well. "All those pins and braces were holding your joints and cartilages in place," he said, "when the nanobots removed them the joints were free to move again. Your osteoarthritis had gotten worse, exactly what happened to you in the past few days?"

I glanced at Andy, he just kept his mouth shut. I said, "I got roughed up a bit, it's a long story."

"I'll prescribe you aspirin, Tesla. There isn't much I can do for you now."

I nodded, then I asked, "Say, you know of someone who can perform spinal surgery for paraplegics?"

"I do, Dr. Nashville is very excellent at his work. Why?"

"I have a son who's paralyzed by the waist down, he had an accident that ended his Pokémon Battling career. Is it possible for Nashville to help my boy get his legs back?"

"How old is he?"

"He's in his seventies, almost as old as his mother."

Rosenberg thought for a moment. "I'll see what I can do, bring him in when you have the chance."

We set up an appointment for the evening. Andy brought Wheels in, I was with him the entire way. He was very friendly for Dr. Rosenberg and cooperated with him. After his CT scan, we discovered his spine was bolted back into place. Dr. Rosenberg checked Wheel's leg muscles and tendons with a simple exercise test. "How often do you flex your knees?"

"Rarely since the accident."

Rosenberg said, "Your muscles are severely atrophied. Nashville can implant the wireless transmitters into your spine and reconnect your legs to your central nervous system, but therapy would take years for a pokémon your age. Besides you and your father, I never had a single pokémon your size live beyond their fifties."

"Will there be complications?" I asked.

"He might be in pain when we reconnect the nerves. Not at first, no. It will be when he starts using them again. The muscles in his lower back had atrophied as well, he won't have the strength to stand on his two feet. Let alone on all four."

I nodded. "Could you do a full physical examination, just to see what else is wrong? I would sleep better at night if he and his mother get a nanobot injection."

"You did well without it."

"Those chus not me, they need the boost."

 **. . .**

All my main Dixierat relatives sent blood samples to the hospital to get their dosage of nanobots calibrated to their systems. Since Ray, Bruiser, and Polly were former lab mice, they were used to being pricked with needles. Wheels and Volta on the other hand were squeamish. Though Wheels had been under the knife before, it had been a long time since he seen blood. Volta never had given blood before, I had to hold her hand through the entire process so she wouldn't faint.

Hours later, the calibration was complete and they all received their nanobot fusions before sundown. The effects were immediate. All the Dixierat brethren felt livelier and more fluid, but the older chus still felt old. Nonetheless they were healthier, it would take a few months before the plaque buildup in the older chus' arteries would clear away and would prevent any further health problems. I felt a little more secure when I went to bed that night, I hope the nanobots would give me plenty of time to spend with Polly.

By the end of the month, Wheels was scheduled to have his surgery. He was starting to have doubts about it. The night before the scheduled day, he wanted to talk to me about his concerns. It was a cool night, we both sat out in the back patio of Mark's house. Then he said, "I'm not sure about getting the operation done."

"Why not?" I asked.

"I haven't used my legs in forty years, the muscles are weak and I bet the bones would break if I put stress on it. Had I got the surgery right after I broke my back I would be fine, but so much time had passed that I wondered if it's too late."

"Your brother had trouble walking, I used to carry him around on my back in I first met him in Dixie. And I had liver failure, I'm still here because I agreed to a transplant. I understand, if Volta wasn't with me I wouldn't have had a new liver grown and implanted in my body."

"Volta told me about that, said she couldn't even sleep at night. Did she really chew you out that night?"

"She did more than chew me out, she smashed the bottle I was about to drink."

"Damn."

I said, "Wheels, this is up to you. You don't have to get the operation, but your mother and I would sleep better at night knowing you can get back on your feet. We have to constantly attend you to make sure you don't get trapped or stuck in something because of your burden."

Wheels thought for a moment. "Even with the use of my legs, how can I ever have your level of stamina? I wasn't born with your power, I'm sorry. Polly needs help moving around because she has a similar problem. Both of us wouldn't even survive on our own."

My son stared up at the sky for a moment. "Fuck it, I'll get the surgery. I'll get it and go through the therapy to get my legs working again."

"I'll help you with the therapy, I only wish I was there to see you take your first few steps."

Wheels smiled, "My handler ran me through a wheel, never felt such adrenaline in my entire life."

 **. . .**

The next day, Wheels went back to the pokémon hospital for the surgery. We all waited in the lobby, waiting for the outcome. For whatever reason Volta came out and announced that she was pregnant. Since I caught her red-handed over fucking Ash's pikachu, I wasn't surprised. "So you somehow got a hold of a pregnancy test without any of us known about it and tested yourself? And you figured out that a pregnancy testing kit exist before that span of time?"

Volta just stared at me, which I took as a no.

I was about to lecture her when Polly crawled up by her side, she rubbed her head against her side before hugging her. _"Don't worry about it, Volta. When you lay the egg it is an amazing experience to feel."_

I frowned, Polly was lying. She only felt the experience _after_ laying her first egg, not _during_ her first egg. The power of birth-inducing amnesia can never be underestimated.

I then got down from the couch, crawled up to Volta and asked, "So how did you find out?"

She took my hand and pressed it against her belly. It was starting to become hard, solid with the shell of an egg. "I found out just five days ago."

"Expect any complications?" I asked.

Volta shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

Hours passed and the surgeon Dr. Nashville came out to see us. He told us Wheels's surgery was a success, now we have to wait until he comes out of anesthesia. The process took two days, when we all went up to see Wheels he was still woozy but was conscious. "How you're feeling, son?" I asked.

Wheels blinked. "I feel like I'm about to become whole again."

He told us that the moment he started waking up from the anesthesia, he felt powerful tingling sensations in his legs for a few seconds. I reached down and tickled his foot, he tried to pull it away but the muscles and tendons failed to give. "Stop!"

I stopped, but Volta climbed up on the bed and kept on tickling. While she tickled one foot, Ray tickled the other. I just sat there, wondering if I should frown or not. Wheels just groaned, even tried to bend his knees. I pulled Volta's hands away and shooed at Ray. "Stop tormenting him, he can't move with those legs." I looked up at Dr. Nashville and asked, "Is there more to do for him, Doc?"

"We'll need to operate on his knees to extend the tendons, and months of therapy. It should get him walking again, but he wouldn't be able to run. The muscles in his legs are too weak for that at the moment."

"When will he be ready to discharge? I mean, when will he be ready to leave?"

"Like I said, it will be a while. With a pikachu this old, it's bound to take almost a year."

I nodded. "Take good care of him. In the meantime we'll get my late trainer's home rebuilt, so he has a place to come back to."

 **. . .**

While this was happening, delegates from the many cities of Faraday Island were meeting in Electron to form a new government. Since Mark was a citizen of Faraday City, and due to his close association with me, he participated in drafting the new constitution. I remembered him buying binders and multiple packs of line paper before he left for Electron. He then took these notes and compiled a report on each meeting, ranging from pages five to ten. Sometimes he would write fifty pages in one sitting. He was so dedicated to his work that he stayed at a hotel not too far from the Capitol Building, sitting at a hotel desk, typing away on his laptop.

Since he was going away from home for most of the time, he had to leave his emolga, pikachu, and plusle and minun behind. It was upsetting at first, but my immediate Dixierat family helped her get by. Emolga was very thankful, especially when Smugleaf stepped in to help her. I spent time with Mark's pikachu and tried to reduce her level of anxiety, I even got the rest of my Dixierat family to pitch in. With Wheels in the hospital for therapy, I needed something to keep him off my mind.

To help pass the time, I got the entire Dixierat family together and took them to several of my old safehouses around the island. Polly didn't wanna come due to her fear of the outdoors. I don't blame her, I had to reassure her seven times that we would be back. She had gotten used to the habit that we might not come back. To be sure she would be alright, I asked Andy to keep an eye on her while we were gone. He agreed, naturally.

The safehouses weren't anything special, just a little hideaway for me to stay out of view of the public eye for a while. I first took them to the one not too far from Mark's house. I warned them that the place had traps covering the whole place and I had trouble remembering where most of them are. The crudely painted pikachu warning sign was still there, still screwed into the oak tree as always. They liked the sign, I told them my situation was anything but fun.

Bruiser asked, "If you want to live like a hermit away from Faraday City, why do you stay so close to it?"

I said, "I didn't have many options. Faraday City has a bountiful food supply and several places to stay for the winter. The Dixierats will soon learn that the whole island does not have the biology to provide an ample food source, they'll be getting most of their meals from the cities. Faraday City will be one of them. And since I knew my way around Faraday City quite well, I had the advantage when it comes to chases."

"Were they common?"

"Not always."

When we reached my old campground, we saw that it had been burned up. I recall setting a bomb in the middle of the camp after my second encounter with Mark and Ash months ago. The police came in, poked around and blew it up. They haven't touched this place since.

I could still see the old electric fences that hanged over the place. Sections of it were cut down, the generators that used to power them were long gone. Perhaps the scavengers had come by to loot what was left. I went up to one of my secret caches and used a stick to dig it up. It was an old ammunition box sealed with duct tape. I dug up the box and Ray pulled it out of the hole. When it was time to leave, I asked him to carry it back to Mark's house. There were things inside the box I would like Mark to have.

We took the ammunition box back to his house and sat it on the coffee table. Andy took a look at it. I had the box sealed up with specialized duct tape, which costs double the regular price of a standard roll of duct tape. The seal didn't appeared to be broken, in fact when Andy started cutting into it he found it ridiculously difficult to slice. I had everybody stood back as we watch him pry open the box. He was at it for almost an hour before the tape started to give.

In no time he managed to slip the tip of the knife inside the lid and begin sawing away at the tape. He cut around the corners until finally he muscled open the lid. Andy put the knife down and we all gathered around to see what was inside.

"Oh," I said. "It's a literacy cache."

Books, multiple small pocket books sealed in heavy-duty plastic bags. Andy reached in and sat each book on the coffee table. The books were older editions to survival guides and apocalyptic genre novels. Some of the books were exaggerated, others were realistic enough to stomach. The books were yellowing due to age but were remarkably still preserved after all these years in the ground. The date of when it was buried was written on the bottom of the lid, it was buried around sixteen years ago.

"Are all of your caches books?" Bruiser asked.

"Not all of them, some of them are filled with tools, filled with medical supplies, and filled with MREs. I had been making them since I first moved into Irvin's farm, he even provided the ammunition boxes and tape for me."

Andy leaned back on the couch. "How come he never told me about these?"

"Because the stuff were meant for me, I was planning my end game."

Smugleaf picked up one of the books and looked at the back cover. "Had you read these books?"

"Yeah, twice. Got bored of them, buried them because I thought somebody else might need them some day."

Polly crawled up to one of the books and smelled one of them, showing almost no interest. She crawled away, climbed up on one of the couch and laid down for a nap. I stared at her for a moment, then thought back to Wheels. "Next time we visit Wheels, I'm going to stay with him a little longer."

"What are you going to do?" Andy asked.

"I'm going to teach him how to read."

 **. . .**

Three weeks after Wheels surgery, we paid him another visit. My elderly son wasn't doing so well. Just as the doctor had said, his legs were hurting him. His muscles were constantly being pulled and his tendons felt like were being torn apart. Dr. Nashville explained he had already undergone two operations to extend his tendons and numerous therapy sessions to get his legs working. "He has no strength in his legs and lower back to stand."

"Is he taking his aspirin?" I asked.

"No, we've put him on a narcotic. The aspirin will affect it."

"Standard procedure?"

"Yes."

I crawled into Wheels's hospital room and crawled up on his bed. He was happy to see me, so happy that he almost tried to stand. I manage to stop him to avoid straining himself. "You seemed to be making improvement."

"I can bend my knees now," he said. "But not without agonizing pain."

"You'll get better, I'll be here to give you a boost."

The family and I talked to him for an hour, when visiting time was over everyone but me got down from the bed and left. I stayed on the bed and waited for everyone to clear the room, then I asked Andy to bring in a stack of easy-read books. "What's going on?" Wheels asked.

"You know how to talk the human language right?"

"Yes."

"Here, I'm going to teach you a thing or two about reading the human language. You gotta have both if you're going to communicate with other people." I sat down beside Wheels and picked up a book. In the back of my mind, I wondered if this was still worth it for a pikachu his age. But hey, I wanted to give him hope. He wanted to come to this Island and I have to guide him through it. "I talked to Nurse Joy about it, she's going to let me stay for a few hours. It will be a long and grueling process, but it will be a lot bearable than therapy."

Wheels smiled, "Thanks for coming by, Dad."

I said, "I hope I will be with you for a long time. But in case I pass away, I'm not going to leave you unprepared. Here in Faraday Island, you are going to get a lot of unwanted attention because of me. The Dixierats will also look up to you once word about you spreads. If push comes to shove, your long lost brothers and sisters might start showing up."

"What will they look like?" he asked.

I said, "I'm not going to lie to you, I expect them to be old, partially hairless, but still hanging on to hope. I will also be teaching them literacy when they come around, but for now I'm going to teach you. I'm going to be giving you lessons and opportunities that are long overdue for you to receive, so let's get started."

I opened up the book and began his personal tutoring.

 **. . .**

Of all the situations that happened to me right after the abolition of Faraday's provincial constitution and the recognition of independence, the most important one of all is to figure out how to house all the pokémon and people. As much as I hated the farm, its historical and symbolic value is too great to sell off. When spring rolled in, I watched along with Andy, Mark, and Matt as a bulldozer tore down what was left of the farm. A part of me felt liberated from that place. For most of my life it had controlled me, now I control it. The plan was to make it bigger, wider, and roomier. Mark had gotten together with an architect and sketched the first draft of the new home. It had a basement, two stories, and an attic. I frowned when I realized that the first floor was going to be two meters off the ground, I asked Mark about it.

"I did research and found that this place used to flood occasionally two hundred years ago, destroyed Irvin's great-grandfather's house. Just to be sure the lessons were learned, I made sure we have the foundation raised higher than normal."

"And we're going to have a basement?" I asked.

"Don't worry, that basement is going to be sealed up real good. The whole house is going to have a steel skeleton anyway so it's not going to be a major problem."

A bulldozer took out a chunk of the garage and half the house caved into it. We had the whole place cleaned out from useful material, including the garage and attic. I frowned when Mark had somehow salvaged the car and took it back to his workplace so his buddies could fix it. I don't know why he hadn't sold the car for scrap, that car served as Irvin's coffin for five seconds after he died. Oh well, the car was never my problem anyway. As long as Mark doesn't bring it around, then that would be fine. The destruction of the old house is satisfying enough.

"It sounds real expensive," said Matt. "I know Irvin would be crazy enough to renovate his house like that but he couldn't afford such a price tag, even if he had the money."

Mark said, "That's why the state is going to pay for it. Well, most of it. Tesla's also paying for everything we're putting inside it."

"We didn't negotiate about that, Mark. I'm just paying for the essentials, you put in everything else with your own money."

"Actually my money is your money, since you were the one who is generous enough to give it to me."

I remembered that back in Unova, I raided several stores and ATMs for cash with Nobark and the PRA while Mark was sitting in his solitary cell. He was right, I was really funding his personal projects. The money merely exchanged hands, but the money came directly from me personally.

"I hate it when you're right, Mark," I retorted.

The bulldozer lifted its scorpion-like claw and struck the chimney, it came down in one swoop. A plume of dust shot out from where it once stood. The old house was now unrecognizable, now just a pile of rotted wood and drywall lying on the foundation. Somehow I began to feel sad, I think it was sympathy for my late friends whom the house used to shelter.

I said, "I wonder if things would work out. I still have some trouble with Unova and I have doubts the PRA would behave, I got a feeling this would all blow up in our faces if we're not careful."

Mark said, "I talked to a few people about that, we're getting fallback options set in place in case something unfortunate happens to you and the pokémon who serves you. I might as well start applying for a job at Nintendo and quit my two other jobs, probably work someplace where my talent and expertise is well suited for."

"I hope that works out for you, Mark."

I took one glance back at the house, the bulldozer was now clearing off the rubble from the foundation. Soon they will bring in the jackhammers and tear out the concrete, then the real work would begin.

 **. . .**

I carved up some alone time, spent a good long hour at the Faraday City Cemetery to visit Irvin's grave. I brought a beer with me, and I was sitting in front of his tombstone drinking it. I sat there thinking back over the times we had together, the good and bad. Back then it felt like we had the whole world to ourselves. Now it was just me, and I have to step up my game. Irvin may be gone but I am still alive despite the odds. I do not want to waste any more time. I want to start living, I want to start working. I have a lot of work to do in the near future. First, putting a sort of pokémon government, then organizing the Dixierat and PRA factions. Leadership is the key, the PRA may be easy to deal with but the Dixierats need a larger leadership base. While the PRA acts like a single group and works for the group, the Dixierats is simply a mass group of individuals with no hierarchy. With all the pokémon – both mice and otherwise – occupying the Island, I'm going to need to split up the factions into smaller regiments that will be easier to govern.

I might as well start recruiting the most rational pokémon to help organize leaders and emergency responders. The local pokémon centers may be a place to start looking, I'm not sure if the nurse assistants will dedicate their time to the cause but I believe they will offer assistance to personal care for the aging pokémon. Among that, I will start putting together whatever WA friends I had left. They may be old, retired, but I hope they never forgotten their servitude for Irvin.

I took one final gulp of my beer and sat it by the base of Irvin's tombstone. "Goodbye, old friend," I said. "I'm off to finish your work."

As I left the cemetery I swore I could feel my dead friends' ghosts staring at me from the Aether. I sensed they were at peace. Being a dick as I always had, I shook the feeling off. I chuckled, then went on my way.

 **THE END, FOR NOW.**


End file.
